
/f'/cr 



SPECIAL STATUTES AND PROVIS- 
IONS OF CHARTERS REGULATING 
SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE SEVERAL 
CITIES OF NEW YORK STATE 



COMPILED BY 

THOMAS E. PINEGAN M.A. Pd.D. LL.D. 

Assistant Commissioner for Elementary Education 



Dpm-Ois-iooo 



ALBANY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

I915 



a.*^j>^ 



WMm 



THE DNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Regents of the University 

With years when terms expire 

1926 Pliny T. Sexton LL.B. LL.D. Chancellor- -Palmyra 

1927 Albert Vander Veer M.D. M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. 

Vice Chancellor Albany 
IQ22 Chester S. Lord M.A. LL.D. ----- - New York 

1918 William Nottingham M.A. Ph.D. LL.D. - ~ Syracuse 
1921 Francis M. Carpenter - - - - - - - Mount Kisco 

1923 Abram L Elkus LL.B. D.C.L. - - ; New York 

1924 Adelbert Moot LL.D. ------ -Buffalo 

1925 Charles B. Alexander M.A. LL.B. LL.D. Litt.D. Tuxedo 

1919 John Moore ---------- Ehnira 

1920 Andrew J. Shipman M.A. LL.B. LL.D. - - - New York 
T916 Walter Guest Kellogg B.A. ----- Ogdensburg 
191 7 [Vacant] 

President of the University 
and Commissioner of Education 

John H. Finley M.A. LL.D. L.H.D. 

Assistant Commissioners 

Augustus S. Downing M.A. L.H.D. LL.D. For Higher Editcation 
Charles F. Wheelock B.S. LL.D. For Secondary Education 
Thomas E. Finegan M.A. Pd.D. LL.D. For Elementary Education 

Director of State Library 

James I. Wyer, Jr, M.L.S. 

Director of Science and State Museum 

John M. Clarke Ph.D. D.Sc. LL.D. 

Chiefs and Directors of Divisions 

Administration, George M. Wiley M.A. 
Agricultiiral and Industrial Education, 

Arthur D. Dean D.Sc, Director 
Archives and History, James A. Holden B.A., Director 
Attendance, James D. Sullivan 
Educational Extension, William R. Watson B.S. 
Examinations, Harlan H. Horner B.A. 
Inspections, Frank H. Wood M.A. 
Law, Frank B. Gilbert B.A. 
Library School, Frank K. Walter M.A. M.L.S. 
School Libraries, Sherman Williams Pd.D. 
Statistics, Hiram C. Case 
Visual Instruction, Alfred W. Abrams Ph.B. 



SPECIAL STATUTES AND PROVIS- 
IONS OF CHARTERS REGULATING 
SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE SEVERAL 
CITIES OF NEW YORK STATE 

3 a. "a 



COMPILED BY 

THOMAS E. FINEGAN M.A. Pd.D. LL.D. 

Assistant Commissioner for Elementary Education 
H**f ^pr^^i^ &Z>SUA iiMrt-©^ /*-<^ ' 



FROM THE TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 



ALBANY 

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

I915 



p. of 2- 
^PRSl 1916 



u-J. 



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SPECIAL STATUTES AND PROVIS- 
IONS OF CHARTERS REGULATING 
SCHOOL SYSTEMS IN THE SEVERAL 
CITIES OF NEW YORK STATE 



ALBANY 

Chapter 182, Laws of 1898 
An act for the government of cities of the second class 

ARTICLE VII 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
(This article applies only to the cities of Albany and Troy.) 
Section 240 There shall be a board of education, composed of three members, 
to be called commissioners of education, who shall be appointed as hereinafter 
provided, which board shall be the head of the department of public instruc- 
tion. They must have been electors of the city for a period of at least five 
years immediately preceding the date of appointment. Within ten days after 
the passage of this act, the mayor shall appoint one commissioner to serve until 
February i, 1904, one to serve until February i, 1906, and one to serve until 
February i, 1908; and thereafter, at the expiration of the term of any com- 
missioner, the mayor shall appoint his successor for the term of six years, which 
shall be the term of office of every commissioner so appointed. In the case of 
a vacancy in the office of commissioner, the mayor shall fill the vacancy by the 
appointment of a commissioner for the remainder of the term. The commis- 
sioners shall serve without pay. (As amended by L. igo2, ch. 360.) 

(Sections 241-52 were repealed by L. 1899, ch. 581 ; new sections 241-47 were 
added by L. 1902, ch. 560.) 

§ 241 The board shall appoint one of its members president, who shall exer- 
cise all the powers usually incident to such office. It shall also appoint a suitable 
person other than a member thereof, superintendent of schools in the city, who 
shall exercise the powers and discharge the duties hereinafter defined, and shall 
be allowed such compensation for his services as the board of estimate and 
apportionment may at any time determine. 

It shall also appoint from time to time such other employees including teachers 
and attendance officers as the school system may require; the amount of their 
compensation shall be fixed by the board of estimate and apportionment. It 
has the care, custody and safekeeping of all school property, real and personal; 
and shall make rules and regulations for the government of the schools and its 
employees except as hereinafter provided; prescribe courses of study and text- 
books; supply the requisite textbooks and stationery for the use of indigent 
pupils; provide the several schools with the necessary school apparatus, maps 
and music books, the expense thereof to be defrayed out of the school moneys 
of the city. No member of the board shall be eligible to appointment or employ- 
ment by the board. (As added by L. igo2, ch. 360.) 

§ 242 The board has all the powers and is charged with all the duties of 
commissioners of common schools, and of trustees of the several school dis- 

[9] 



lO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

tricts in this State, under the general statutes relating to common schools, so far 
as such powers and duties can be made applicable to the schools herein provided 
for and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. (As added by 
L. igo2, ch. 560.) 

§ 243 The superintendent of schools shall hold office during the pleasure 
of the board. Any person may prefer charges of incompetency, maladministra- 
tion or misconduct in office against the superintendent, and thereupon the board 
shall proceed to hear the charges, and in case the same shall be sustained by 
the affirmative votes of a majority thereof the superintendent shall be dismissed 
from his office. {As added by L. 1902, ch. 560.) 

§ 244 The superintendent has power and it is his duty to see that all the 
rules and regulations of the board are complied with by the principals and 
teachers ; to determine the different grades of study which shall be pursued 
in the various departments of the several schools ; to transfer teachers from 
one school to another, or from one grade to another, to suspend any teacher 
temporarily for cause, provided, however, that the reason for suspension shall 
be immediately transmitted to the board in writing ; to transfer pupils from 
one school to another ; to prescribe rules and regulations for the admission, 
examination and promotion of pupils ; and he shall have the charge of the 
school libraries. {As added by L. 1902, ch. 560.) 

§ 245 All assistant teachers shall be appointed for a probationary period of 
one year, at the expiration of which term, unless satisfactory evidence of incom- 
petency is submitted by the superintendent, the probationer may be elected by 
the board. Thereafter such teacher shall hold the position during good behavior 
and shall be removable only for cause, after a hearing, by the affirmative 
votes of a majority of the board. All probationary appointments shall be made 
from the head of a merit list, upon which the names of all eligible candidates 
for appointment as assistant teachers shall appear in the order of their rank 
in scholarship and qualifications for teaching; and it shall be the duty of 
the board to prescribe by rules not inconsistent with the laws of the State the 
means of determining such rank in scholarship and qualifications. All principals 
shall hold their positions during good behavior and shall be removable only for 
cause, after a hearing, by the affirmative votes of at least a majority of the 
board. {As added by L. 1902, ch. 560.) 

§ 246 Whenever in the opinion of the board any repairs are needed to the 
public school buildings in the city, it shall call upon the city engineer to make 
such repairs. It shall recommend to the common council, when in its opinion the 
public interests require, the sale of any schoolhouse, the purchase or lease of 
any land or building for a schoolhouse, and when authorized thereto by an ordi- 
nance of the common council, the board of contract and supply may make such 
sale, purchase or lease in the manner in this act provided; and it may recom- 
mend to the common council the erection of any school building; and when au- 
thorized thereto by an ordinance of the common council, the board of contract 
and supply may erect such buildings in the manner and upon the conditions pre- 
scribed in this act, {As added by L. 1902, ch. 560.) 



EDUCATION CODE II 

§ 247 All public money apportioned or appropriated to or for the city, or to 
or for any of the school districts therein, or for the school libraries, shall be paid 
by the proper officers to the treasurer, and in the accounts kept by him shall be 
credited to the department of public instruction and paid out by him upon 
bills properly allowed and audited in the same manner as obtains in the case of 
other bills against the city. (As added by L. igo2, ch. 560.) 

Chapter 414, Laws of 1907 
An act to establish a retirement fund for teachers, principals and supervisors of 
the public schools in the city of Albany, and to regulate the collection, man- 
agement and disbursement thereof 
Section i The word teacher as used in this act shall be deemed to include the 
principals, supervisors and superintendent of schools, regularly employed by the 
board of education of the city of Albany. {As amended by L. 19 10, ch. 451.) 

§ 2 The mayor, the president of the board of education and the comptroller 
shall constitute a board of trustees which shall have the general care and manage- 
ment of the public school teachers retirement fund created by this act. 

§ 3 There is hereby established in the city of Albany a public school teachers 
retirement fund, which shall consist of the following moneys, with interest or 
income therefrom, as follows : 

1 Contributions of one per centum of the respective salaries of teachers in 
the employ of the city of Albany, at the time this act shall take effect, who shall 
become entitled to the benefit of the fund in the manner provided in section 7 
hereof, and contributions of one per centum of the respective salaries of all 
teachers who shall enter the employ of said city after this act shall take effect, 
which contributions shall be deducted from said salaries in the manner herein- 
after provided. 

2 All donations, legacies, gifts and bequests which shall be made to such fund, 
and all moneys which shall be obtained from other sources or by any other 
lawful means devised for the increase of such fund by such board of trustees or 
by the Albany Teachers Association. 

3 Five per centum of the excise money which the city of Albany shall receive 
by virtue of the provisions of the liquor tax law, to be paid into such fund and 
duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said city. {As amended by L. 
19 10, ch. 431.) 

§ 4 The comptroller of the city of Albany shall be the custodian of the moneys 
of such retirement fund, and shall invest for the benefit of the fund all such 
moneys not necessary for the payment of annuities. Such investment shall only 
be made in securities in which the savings banks are authorized by law to 
invest. He shall report in detail to the board of trustees of such fund annually 
in the month of January the condition of the fund and the items of receipts and 
disbursements on account of the same during the year ending on the 31st day 
of December preceding. On and after January i, 1908, he shall make quarterly 
payments from such fund and the income thereof of annuities granted in pur- 



12 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

suance of this act to such persons as the board of trustees shall certify to be 
entitled to receive the same. 

§ 5 On and after January i, 1908, any teacher entitled to participate in this 
fund as herein provided who shall have taught in the public schools of the city 
of Albany for thirty years or more may, at his or her own request or upon the 
request of the board of education retire from service and become an annuitant 
under this act, and shall thereafter receive from the retirement fund an annuity, 
payable quarterly, of a sum equal to fifty per centum of his or her average salary 
during the last five years of his or her teaching service in said city, except that 
no annuity shall be more than six hundred dollars annually, and provided that 
said teacher retiring to become an annuitant under this act shall have paid to 
the fund a sum equal to thirty per centum of his average salary for the last five 
years of teaching service. Any such teacher who shall have taught twenty, but 
less than thirty years, and is either mentally or physically incapacitated for the 
performance of duty may, with the consent, or upon the request of the board of 
education, retire from service and become an annuitant under this act, and shall 
thereafter receive from the retirement fund an annuity, payable quarterly, of as 
many thirtieths of the full annuity for thirty years as said teacher has taught 
years, provided that said teacher shall have paid to the fund a sum equal to as 
many per centum of his average salary for the last five years as said teacher 
has taught years. The comptroller shall receive and shall pay into the fund all 
moneys contributed by teachers in compliance with the provisions of this section 
to become annuitants. 

§ 6 At the request of any teacher who shall retire or be retired and who is 
unable to pay in advance the sum required by section 5 before he is entitled to 
receive an annuity, the comptroller shall withhold the annuity until the amount of 
the assessment paid into the retirement fund and the accumulation of the annuity 
equal the sum required to be paid into the fund ; provided, however, that such 
assessment be paid within one year after retirement of any teacher. 

§ 7 Any teacher in the public schools of the city of Albany at the time this 
act takes effect may file with the board of education of such city and the board 
of trustees of the retirement fund created by this act, a certificate stating that 
such person desires to avail himself or herself of the benefits of this act and is 
willing to contribute to such fund from his or her salary, annually, an amount 
equal to one per centum thereof, such certificate to be so filed before January i, 
191 1, and thereupon such person shall become entitled to the benefits of this act 
when he or she shall have paid into such fund the amount required to entitle 
him or her to an annuity thereunder and shall have taught for the period of 
time required to entitle him or her to an annuity. The board of education, when 
making up payrolls, shall, after this act takes effect, deduct for the period covered 
by such payrolls one per centum of the salary of each teacher who has filed such 
certificate and of each teacher entering the employ of said city after this act takes 
effect, and such payroll shall state, opposite the name of such teacher, the 
amount of deduction. Such payroll shall also state the amount deducted from the 



EDUCATION CODE 1 3 

salary of each teacher on account of absences from duty during such period. 
The board of education shall issue a certificate to the treasurer at the time each 
payroll is made, and such certificates shall accompany the payrolls and shall show 
the total amount of deductions by the assessment of one per centum of salary, 
and also the total amount of deductions from the salaries of teachers for absences 
from duty and also the actual extra expense to the city of a substitute for such 
teacher during such absence, and such deductions of one per centum of the 
salaries of teachers together with that part of the deductions from salaries of 
teachers for absences from duty which be left after the actual extra expense to 
the city, of substitutes for such teachers, has been subtracted from such deductions, 
shall be paid into the retirement fund and duly credited thereto by the city 
comptroller. (As amended by L. ipio, ch. 451.) 

§ 8 If the moneys of the retirement fund at the disposal of the comptroller 
be found at any time inadequate to carry out the provisions of this act, he shall 
distribute such moneys pro rata to the persons entitled to participate in such 
fund, and such distribution shall be in full of all annuities then due. 

§ 9 Whenever a teacher is retired by the board of education and granted an 
annuity pursuant to this act, the board shall certify such fact to the comptroller 
stating the name of such teacher and the amount of annuity to which he is 
entitled and the day when the payment of such annuity shall begin. 

§ 10 The board of trustees of such fund shall make all needed rules to 
carry out the provisions of this act. 

§ 1 1 Annuities payable under the provisions of this act shall be calculated only 
from and after January i, 1908. 



AMSTERDAM 

Chapter 242, Laws of 191 1 

An act to amend, consolidate and revise the several acts relative to the city 

of Amsterdam 

TITLE X 

THE SCHOOL DISTRICT 

Section 116 City and school district. All the territory included within the 
boundaries of the city of Amsterdam shall constitute a separate school district 
within this State, and shall be designated as " The school district of the city 
of Amsterdam." It may bear such other or additional designation as the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State may by law prescribe. Such 
district shall be entitled to all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and 
other benefits conferred by law or other State authority upon school districts, 
and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of inspection and super- 
intendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts in cities, except as 
otherwise hereinafter prescribed. 

§ 117 Board of education. The affairs of said school district of the city 
of Amsterdam shall be managed by a board composed of one member to be 
elected from each ward of said city, and two members to be elected from the 
city at large, which board shall be a body corporate and shall be known and 
designated as the " Board of Education of the City of Amsterdam." The two 
members from the city at large shall not be residents of the same ward in 
said city. Said board shall possess all the powers conferred and discharge 
all the duties imposed by this act or by any general law of this State relating 
to school districts in cities or relating to the boards of education of such districts, 
and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

§ 118 Title to school property. The board of education shall have the 
power, subject to the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, lease, hold or 
improve any real or personal estate for the support and maintenance of public 
schools or for any purpose of education in said city in trust, however, for the 
school district of the city. It may also take by gift, grant, bequest or devise 
and hold any real or personal estate in trust for any purpose of education or 
art, or for the purchase, support or maintenance of public libraries in said city 
upon such terms as may be prescribed by the donor or donors and accepted by 
said board of education, and it may execute any trust for any purpose afore- 
said and provide for the proper execution thereof. 

§ 119 School elections. The annual election for school officers in said city 
shall be held on the second Tuesday of September in each year, and there shall 
be elected each year at such election members of the board of education to succeed 
those members whose terms of office shall expire during said year and such 
other members as may be necessary to fill vacancies that may have occurred 

[14] 



EDUCATION CODE 15 

during the preceding year for the unexpired term of any member whose office 
shall have become vacant. Public notice of every annual or tax election held 
under this act shall be given by said board of education of the city of Amsterdam, 
by notice, signed by its president and clerk, which notice shall be published in 
the official newspapers of said city, at least once in each week for three con- 
secutive weeks immediately preceding such election. The board of education 
shall, each year, designate at least three polling places, in as many separate wards, 
at which such annual election shall be held, and the particular wards for which 
each polling place shall serve, and the same shall be set forth in said notice, 
as well as the officers to be elected thereat, together with the terms for which 
they are to serve, respectively. The clerk of the board of education shall, each 
year, and at least ten days before the date of such annual election, notify the 
inspectors of election of the election districts in which each of said polling places 
are situated, by notice mailed to each of them in the post office of said city, 
of every such election, and the polling places designated by said board. The 
inspectors in each of said election districts shall preside and conduct said annual 
election, at the places of their respective districts, designated as aforesaid, and 
their powers and duties in respect thereto shall be determined and regulated by 
the provisions relating to the holding of the general city elections for city officers, 
except as modified by this act. All elections shall be opened at each polling 
place at three o'clock in the afternoon, and shall be kept open without intermission 
or adjournment until seven o'clock in the afternoon, when the same shall be 
finally closed, and the inspectors shall forthwith without intermission or adjourn- 
ment, canvass all votes cast, declare and make a statement of the result, as 
required in the general city elections, and shall forthwith file such statements 
of the result with the clerk of the board of education of said city. Every 
inhabitant of said city qualified to vote for school officers, under the general 
school laws of this State shall then and there be entitled to vote at such election ; 
but no such inhabitant shall vote at any polling place, except that designated 
for the ward in which he or she may reside at the time of offering such vote, 
and shall have resided for at least thirty days immediately prior to such election, 
and except at the polling places designated by said board, at which an election 
shall be held, for the election of a trustee or trustees, by the city at large, and 
at the polling places designated by said board at which the electors will vote 
for or against the " school tax " as provided in section 123 herein. 

§ 120 Organization of board. On the day following such school election the 
board of education of said city shall convene at eight o'clock in the evening, at its 
regular place of meeting, and all the certificates of the votes cast at each of 
the polling places designated as aforesaid, shall be produced, and said board 
of education shall forthwith proceed to canvass such certificates, declare the 
result thereof, and make a certificate in writing of all those who were duly 
elected at said election, and shall immediately file a duplicate thereof, signed by 
the president and clerk, in the office of the city clerk. The persons so elected 
shall thereupon take the constitutional oath of office, and the board of education 
of the city of Amsterdam, as constituted for the preceding year, shall be dis- 



l6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

solved and the board of education composed of the persons so declared elected 
and those whose terms of office shall not have expired shall then organize, 
by electing one of their number president, and a resident of the city, not of their 
number, clerk of said board, who shall hold office during the pleasure of said 
board and whose compensation shall be fixed by such board. The clerk shall 
keep an accurate record of the proceedings of said board, and shall perform 
such other duties as the board may prescribe. A majority of the board of 
trustees of said board of education shall constitute a quorum for the transaction 
of business. The members of said board shall receive no compensation, directly 
or indirectly, for their services. 

§ 121 General powers and duties of board of education. Subject to the 
provisions of this act, the board of education of the city of Amsterdam shall 
have power and it shall be its duty : 

a To provide a place for its meetings and adopt such rules and regulations 
for the conduct of its business as it may deem advisable. 

b To establish and organize in said city such schools, and night schools, 
as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue 
the same at its discretion. 

c To establish and maintain, whenever it shall be deemed expedient so to do, 
within the limits of the school district hereby created, a high school, to which 
graduates from the said schools of said district shall be admitted for a course 
of instruction to be regulated by the board of education. 

d To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, hire rooms 
for school purposes as may be deemed advisable, and when authorized by a 
vote of the qualified voters of the school district, to sell and dispose of, or pur- 
chase, schoolhouses, lots or sites. 

e To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expense attending the same. 

/ To insure the schoolhouse or houses and their furniture, apparatus and 
appendages, and the school library, in some company or companies created by 
or under the laws of this State, and to comply with the conditions of the policy 
and policies, and raise the sum or sums paid for the premium or premiums by 
tax in like manner as other moneys are raised for school purposes. 

g To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, out- 
houses, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances and 
by-laws of said city in relation thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof 
punished. 

h To contract with and employ a superintendent of instruction for said city, 
and fix his compensation, to contract with and employ all necessary teachers 
for the schools of said city, and at pleasure to remove them or any of them, 
or the superintendent of instruction, under such rules and regulations as may 
be established by law, or by the Department of Public Instruction of this State. 

i To pay the salaries of superintendent and teachers out of any moneys appro- 
p'irited or provided by law for that purpose. 



EDUCATION CODE 17 

/ To defray the necessary contingent expenses of said board and said district, 
including the wages of clerk, janitors, truant officers and other assistants and 
employees, and incidental expenses. 

k To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such manner as 
may be deemed advisable, but only for the purpose for which the same was 
raised, and the expenditures herein directed apply only to school property located 
within the boundaries of the city of Amsterdam, outside of which the board of 
education hereby created has neither authority nor jurisdiction. 

/ To make provision for the instruction of pupils in physiology and hygiene 
with special reference to the effect of alcoholic drinks, stimulants and narcotics 
upon the human system. 

m To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of instruction 
of said city, subject to the regulations prescribed by the Department of Public 
Instruction of this State in relation to the examination of persons in regard to 
their qualifications to teach, all teachers employed in the schools of said city. 

n To take and appropriate land and other real property within said city for 
the site of schoolhouses, or for other school purposes, when authorized to do 
so, upon making compensation therefor in cases where the owners thereof, 
or some of them, shall not consent to sell the same for such purposes, or the 
board of education of the said city can not agree with such owner or owners, 
or some of them, upon the price or value thereof, as real property for pubhc 
use, is taken under and pursuant to the laws of this State. The board of educa- 
tion of said city is hereby authorized and empowered to institute, carry on and 
complete the proceedings necessary for acquiring said land, and the title thereto, 
for and on behalf of said school district. The method of procedure to acquire 
such land shall be that prescribed for the condemnation of real property for 
public use in title i of chapter 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and any 
amendments thereof, entitled " proceedings for the condemnation of real prop- 
erty " and known as the " condemnation law." 

To have to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction of this State and the Board of Regents of this State, 
the entire supervision and management of the public schools in said city, and 
the right from time to time to adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruc- 
tion, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one schoolroom or 
schoolhouse to another, for their advancement from class to class as their degrees 
of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of the good order 
and prosperity of said school. 

p To allow the children of persons not resident within said city to attend 
any of the schools therein under the control of said board, upon such terms as 
said board may prescribe. 

q To establish and maintain a school library and to provide suitable rooms 
therefor, to employ and pay a librarian, to have the care and supervision of the 
books and other publications belonging thereto, and supervise the letting out and 



15 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

return thereof. To exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of the 
moneys provided by law for the purpose of libraries as is conferred upon the 
inhabitants of school districts. 

r Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. And 
except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
and all the duties imposed by the general laws of this State applicable to boards 
of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board or a tran- 
script thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all courts 
or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 122 Estimate of school expenses. On or before the 15th day of January 
in each year, the board of education shall prepare a statement of such sums of 
money as it may deem necessary for the following purposes, for the year be- 
ginning on the next succeeding ist day of August: 

a For the wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying all the public 
school and other moneys applicable thereto. 

b For the maintenance of a high school, and the payment of the teachers 
thereof after applying such of the public school and other moneys as may be 
applicable thereto. 

c For the repairs of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds, with their append- 
ages and appurtenances. 

d For the purchase, repair, or improvements of school apparatus, books, 
furniture and fixtures. 

e For the purchase, maintenance and care of the school library, but not to 
exceed $400 in any one year. 

/ For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes, the purchase 
of fuel and lights, and to pay the contingent expense of the district, including 
the wages of clerk, janitors, truant officers, and other assistants and employees, 
and incidental expenses. 

g For such other purposes as are required by the provisions of this act. Such 
statements shall, within the time hereinbefore specified, be presented to the 
mayor or acting mayor of said city, and if he approve such statement, he shall 
sign it, and immediately file the same with the city clerk ; if he does not approve 
any item therein, except the items hereinafter mentioned, which he can not 
disapprove, he shall within two days return the same to the president or clerk 
of said board of education with his objections indorsed thereon or annexed 
thereto. The mayor or acting mayor of said city shall not have power or 
authority, however, to disapprove or veto any part, portion or item of such state- 
ment which specifies the amount of money deemed necessary for the payment 
of the salary and wages of the superintendent and teachers of said schools and 
the payment of the contingent expenses of said schools, but said board of educa- 
tion shall have the exclusive power and authority to fix and determine the amount 
of money necessary for the payment of said salary, wages, and contingent ex- 
penses. Said board shall then proceed to reconsider said statement, and if two- 



EDUCATION CODE I9 

thirds of all the members then in office agree to pass the same, it shall stand as 
if approved by the mayor and shall be immediately filed with the city clerk. 
If two-thirds of the members of said board do not agree to sustain the state- 
ment as made, it shall be modified so as to conform to the views expressed by 
the mayor in his objections, and he shall then sign it and file it with the city 
clerk. If the mayor or acting mayor fails to sign the statement of moneys 
required, as herein provided, or fails to return such statement, with his objections 
thereto, to the board of education, within two days after its submission, said 
statement shall be filed with the city clerk in the same manner as if it had been 
approved. When such statement is filed with the city clerk, the common council 
of said city shall include the amount therein called for in the annual tax and 
assessment roll for that year, and the amount so certified shall be collected and paid 
to the city treasurer who shall credit it to the general school fund of the board 
of education. All public moneys or public funds belonging or appropriated to 
the use of said district shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, who shall keep 
the same separate from the general fund of the city, and shall credit to the board 
of education fund the moneys or property belonging thereto. The board of 
education shall disburse all the funds of the said district by orders upon the 
city treasurer, signed by its clerk and countersigned by its president. Said orders 
shall be numbered consecutively, and shall specify the purpose for which they 
ire drawn, persons to whom payable, and the particular school fund to which 
they are chargeable. Upon the request from said board of education the city 
treasurer shall certify from time to time the balance remaining to the credit of 
said school fund or each separate fund thereof. Whenever any moneys are 
collected by or paid to the city treasurer for school purposes it shall not be lawful 
for said treasurer to apply such money, or any part thereof, to any other pur- 
pose or object. 

§ 123 New sites and buildings ; issue of bonds. When the board of educa- 
tion shall determine by resolution that it is necessary to purchase any site or 
any addition to any site or erect any school building or enlarge any school or any 
building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution the ward within which 
such site is to be purchased or building erected or enlarged and the particular 
sum required for each separately. The clerk of the board of education shall 
embody such resolution in a notice of election which he shall cause to be published 
in the official newspapers at least once in each week for three consecutive weeks 
immediately preceding the annual election for school officers in said city. The 
board of education shall provide at the proper time sufficient printed ballots for 
and against said tax for the use of the electors, which shall be indorsed " school 
tax," and shall be deposited in a separate ballot box provided therefor and 
marked " school tax." Upon the inside of such ballots shall be printed the several 
items or objects to be voted for or against. Separate ballots shall be provided 
for and against each separate proposition to be voted upon. The inspectors of 
election shall canvass the said votes and make a statement thereof in respect to 
each item voted upon, and immediately file the same with the clerk of the board 



20 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of education. Within three days following such election the board of education 
shall convene at its usual place of meeting at eight o'clock in the evening, and 
the statement from each polling place shall be produced, and the board shall 
forthwith declare and make a certificate in writing of the result. In case a 
majority of the votes cast be in favor of any said taxes, the board of education 
shall have authority to borrow, upon the faith and credit of said city, the aggre- 
gate of the items having such majority, or any part thereof, at any time before 
and until the same can be provided for according to law. In case the sum or 
sums so authorized to be raised shall exceed the sum of $10,000, the board of 
education shall issue bonds or other evidence of indebtedness in such form as 
it may prescribe for such sum or sums at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per 
centum per annum and payable at the rate of not more than $10,000 of principal 
per year. Said bonds, or any part thereof, may be sold by said board of educa- 
tion in such manner as it may deem best, but not at less than the par value 
thereof. The board of education shall, on or before the 15th day of January in 
each year, file with the mayor a statement of the amount necessary to be raised 
to pay the interest and principal that will become due during the ensuing year 
upon the bonds or obligations so issued by said board, and the common council 
shall include the same in the annual city tax and assessment roll for that year. 
Such amount shall be collected and paid to the city treasurer and by him credited 
to the " board of education fund." The common council, upon receiving the 
certificate of the result of any such election from the board of education, at 
which any money was voted to be raised, shall include $10,000 of the amount so 
authorized to be raised, or any less sum which may have been so authorized, in 
the next levy and assessment roll for the collection of taxes in said city ; but no 
bonds or other obligations shall be made to mature at such time as will make 
the amount to be raised by tax for this purpose in any one year exceed $10,000 
of principal. This shall not be construed to affect any obligation made prior to 
the passage of this act. The board of education, after completing the work or 
other objects for which the said money may have been raised, may apply any 
unexpended balance which may remain to any object authorized or contemplated 
by this section. The polling places for said election shall be designated and said 
election shall be conducted in the same manner as provided in section 119 of 
this act relative to annual school elections, except as in this section otherwise 
provided. 

§ 124 Annual report. It shall be the duty of the board of education, on 
or before the ist day of August, in each year, to make and publish in the official 
newspapers of said city a detailed report of the manner in which it shall have 
expended the money provided for and appropriated to school purposes, from any 
source during the last fiscal year of said board of education, also a full state- 
ment of the bonded or other indebtedness of the district. The said board may 
also, as soon thereafter as practicable, make and publish, in such form as they 
consider advisable, such other and more extended report in relation to the affairs 
of the schools of said city as in their judgment may be of interest to the in- 



EDUCATION CODE 21 

habitants thereof. Said board of education shall also make a report to the Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction of this State, and such report shall be made in 
the manner, and at such times, as he may direct. 

§ 125 Public moneys. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of this State to apportion for the use of the board of education of 
the city of Amsterdam, such portions of the school library and other money as 
it shall be entitled to, by its annual report, in the same manner in which such 
moneys are apportioned to cities and the amount to which it shall be so entitled 
shall be certified to the county treasurer of Montgomery county. The said county 
treasurer of Montgomery county shall pay over to the treasurer of the city of 
Amsterdam, for the use of the board of education of said city, such proportion 
of the school, library and other public moneys as may be apportioned by law or 
by the Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction of this State to the board of educa- 
tion of the city of Amsterdam, for teachers' wages, library and other school 
purposes. 

§ 126 Ordinances. The common council of the city of Amsterdam shall 
have the power, and it shall be its duty to pass such ordinances and by-laws as 
the board of education of said city shall report as necessary for the protection, 
safekeeping, care and preservation of the school buildings and other property 
of said district, and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it 
shall deem proper. 

§ 127 Vacancies. All vacancies in the board of education occasioned by the 
resignation, refusal to serve, death or removal of any of its members, shall be 
filled by appointment by said board until the next regular school election, when 
the residue of the term if any, shall be filled by election, as hereinbefore pre- 
scribed. 

§ 128 Superintendent of instruction; general duties; report. The super- 
intendent of instruction of the city of Amsterdam shall confer with and act under 
the direction of the board of education of said city in performing the duties of 
his office. He shall, subject to the direction of said board, have general control 
and supervision of the public schools and the teachers thereof in said city, and 
shall on or before the 3d day of January, in each year, report in writing to the 
board of education as follows : 

The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of education 
and their sanitary conditions ; the repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary 
for such schools ; the condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books in 
the several schools, and the repairs or additions thereto that may be necessary ; 
the number of teachers employed in the several schools, and their efficiency, with 
suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the number thereof ; number of 
pupils registered at each school and the average daily attendance; such changes 
in the curriculum of any or all of the schools as he may deem advisable; as to 
the condition and management of the high school; such other information in 
relation to the city schools as may be of interest to the people of the city of 
Amsterdam. 



22 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 129 School district a union free school district. The school district of 
the city of Amsterdam is hereby declared to be a union free school district under 
the laws of this State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law not 
inconsistent with the provisions of this act applicable to school districts whose 
limits correspond with any incorporated city and the boards of education therein 
and the corporate authorities of such cities, are made applicable to the school 
district of the city of Amsterdam and the board of education thereof and to the 
corporate authorities of said city. 



AUBURN 

Chapter 577, Laws of 1875 
An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to the public schools of 

the city of Auburn 

Section i The several school districts in the city of Auburn are hereby con- 
solidated, and the corporate limits of said city as they now exist, or may here- 
after be changed, are hereby declared to be a separate school district, but nothing 
in this act shall be construed to prevent the board of education hereinafter named 
from making, from time to time, such subdivisions of said district as may be 
necessary for the convenience and accommodation of the pupils attending school 
therein. The trustees and clerks of the several school districts of said city shall, 
as soon as this act takes effect, transfer to the secretary of the board of education 
hereinafter named, all records, books and papers of their respective school dis- 
tricts in their official custody. The title to all real and personal property now 
belonging to the public school fund of said city, or which may be hereafter 
acquired, by purchase, gift, grant or otherwise, is hereby vested in said board of 
education, and the same shall not be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever. 

§ 2 The public schools of said city shall be under the control and management 
of nine commissioners of public schools, to be chosen in the manner hereinafter 
provided, who shall constitute and be called and known by the name of " The 
Board of Education of the City of Auburn." Said board of education is hereby 
constituted a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon it by this act and in the name aforesaid, may sue and be sued, and shall 
have a corporate seal, such as said board may designate. 

§ 3 The members of the present board of education are hereby continued in 
office until the new board hereinafter provided for, shall have been duly elected 
and qualified. But the terms of office of each of the members of the present 
board of education shall cease and determine when such board shall have been 
duly elected and qualified. 

§ 4 Under the provisions of this act, an election shall be held in said city 
on the third Tuesday of May, in the year 1876, and on the third Tuesday of May 
in each and every year thereafter, at such places as the common council shall 
designate of which at least twenty days' notice shall be given by publication in 
one or more daily papers published in said city, and by posting the same in at 
least two public places in each ward, signed by the city clerk and by the secretary 
of the board of education of said city. 

§ 5 The first and tenth wards, as now designated, shall constitute the first 
election district; the fifth and sixth wards shall constitute the second election 
district, the fourth and seventh wards shall constitute the third election district, 
the third and eighth wards shall constitute the fourth election district and the 
second and ninth wards shall constitute the fifth election district for the purposes 

[23] 



24 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of this act; and the inspectors of election, selected and appointed pursuant to 
the provisions of the election law to serve at general elections in said city, for 
the wards wherein the elections under this act shall be designated to be held, shall 
be the inspectors of these elections ; and the provisions of law applicable to 
election districts, and to inspectors of elections therein, except as to previous 
registry of voters, shall apply to said districts and to said inspectors. (As 
amended by L. iSyg, ch. ^i8; L. ipii, ch. 422.) 

§ 6 Every person of the age of 21 years and upward, residing within the 
district where his or her vote is offered, and entitled to hold lands within the 
State, who owns in his or her own right, or whose husband or wife owns real 
property subject to taxation for school purposes in said city, and every resident 
of such district authorized to vote at charter elections in said city or who would 
be authorized to vote at such charter elections, if not disqualified by sex, who 
owns personal property taxed for school purposes in said city exceeding fifty 
dollars in value, or who has permanently residing with him or her a child or 
children of school age some one or more of whom shall have attended the public 
schools of said city for a period of at least fourteen weeks during the year pre- 
ceding, and no other shall be allowed to vote at such elections. All penalties 
provided by law for illegal voting at any charter election for the election of the 
city officers for said city, shall apply to such election; and any person offering 
to vote may be challenged, as at a charter election aforesaid; and the same pro- 
ceedings had thereon as are or shall be prescribed by law in relation to general 
elections, so far as the same shall be applicable to this election. {As amended 
by L. 1888, ch. 381.) 

§ 7 The city clerk shall give notice, in writing, of every election to be held 
under this act, to the inspectors of election in the several wards wherein the 
said election shall have been designated by the common council to be held, as 
aforesaid ; and said inspectors shall provide a ballot box, to be marked or labeled 
" schools," for the reception of ballots, and two blank books, in which they shall 
record the name and residence of every person who shall vote at said election, 
and the name and residence of every person who shall offer to vote and whose 
vote shall be rejected, properly designated as rejected, with reason therefor. 

§ 8 The polls of the election in the several election districts at the said 
school election, shall be opened at six o'clock on the morning of the day of 
election, and shall be kept open, without intermission or adjournment, until five 
o'clock in the afternoon, when they shall be finally closed; and the inspectors 
shall, without adjourning, canvass the votes received by them, and certify, in 
writing, to the same, and deliver one copy of said certificate to the city clerk, 
and another copy to the secretary of the board of education, within twenty-four 
hours after closing the polls ; and said inspectors shall cause one copy of the list 
of persons so voting or offering to vote at said election, duly certified to, to be 
delivered to the secretary of the board of education, and the other copy, also duly 
certified to, to the city clerk of said city. {As amended by L. iqii, ch. 422.) 

§ 9 At the election to be held on the third Tuesday of May, 1876, there shall 
be elected nine commissioners, to be voted for under the title of " commissioners 



EDUCATION CODE 2$ 

of public schools," in the same manner as other city officers are elected, except 
that only six names shall be voted on any one ticket, and any ticket having thereon 
more than six names shall not be counted ; and no person entitled to vote at such 
election shall vote for more than six of said commissioners, and the nine persons 
receiving the highest number of votes at such election shall be declared elected 
commissioners as aforesaid. 

§ 10 The common council of said city shall meet at the common council room 
at ten o'clock in the forenoon, on Tuesday next after the election, and the state- 
ments of the inspectors of the several election districts shall be produced by the 
city clerk, and the common council shall forthwith determine and declare who 
are, by the greatest number of votes, elected as said commissioners, as appears 
by said returns. And they shall thereupon proceed to classify by lot, the com- 
missioners so elected, in manner following: The names of the six commissioners 
who were elected by the highest number of votes shall be placed in a box by 
themselves, and the names of the other three commissioners elected shall, in like 
manner, be placed in another and separate box by themselves. The names of 
two commissioners shall then be drawn from the box containing the six names, 
and one name shall be drawn from the box containing the three names, and the 
persons whose names are so drawn shall constitute the first class, and shall hold 
their office for three years. In like manner the names of two additional com- 
missioners shall be drawn from the first named box, with the name of one 
additional commissioner from the second named box, and the three persons whose 
names are so drawn at the second drawing, shall constitute the second class, and 
shall hold their office for two years. The other three commissioners, whose 
names are not drawn, shall constitute the third class, and shall hold their office for 
one year. And the common council shall make and sign a determination of such 
election and classification of the commissioners so as before elected, which shall 
be entered in the minutes, and the original filed by the city clerk in his office, 
and a copy thereof in the office of the secretary of the board of education, and 
the city clerk shall notify every person so elected of his election and classification 
within twenty-four hours after such determination. 

§ 1 1 The said board of education, so constituted, shall hold their first regular 
meeting on the following fourth Tuesday of May, 1876, at ten o'clock a. m., at 
the regular place of meeting of the present board of education, and elect by 
ballot one of their number president, who shall hold his office for one year, and 
until his successor shall be designated; and said board shall annually thereafter 
meet at their regular place of meeting on the fourth Tuesday of May, and 
designate by ballot one of their number to be president of said board for the 
ensuing year. In case of vacancy in the office of president by death, resignation 
or otherwise, the board shall elect a president for the unexpired term. 

§ 12 There shall be held a special election annually, on the third Tuesday of 
May, after the year 1876, at which there shall be elected three commissioners of 
public schools aforesaid, to take the places of those commissioners whose terms 
of office are about to expire, and whose terms of office shall commence on the 
Tuesday succeeding such election, and continue for three years. The regulations 



26 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

prescribed for the first election under this act, and for the determination by the 
common council of who have by the greatest number of votes, been elected, shall 
so far as applicable, apply to each annual election. (As amended by L. i8/p, 
ch. 318.) 

§ 13 In case of a tie vote at any election herein provided for, the mayor and 
common council of said city, at the first meeting after such election, shall de- 
termine, by ballot, who, among those receiving the highest number of votes, shall 
be declared elected, and the person or persons so designated shall be commissioner 
or commissioners, the same as if duly elected by a majority vote. 

§ 14 In case of a vacancy in said board of education, occasioned by the 
death or resignation of any of its members, or otherwise, the said board of 
education shall fill the same for the unexpired term by appointment by ballot, 
and the vote of two-thirds of all the members of said board shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

§ 15 The inspectors of election provided for in this act shall be entitled to 
the like compensation as the inspectors of election for said city are allowed for 
similar services, to be paid out of the school fund of said city, on the order of 
the board of education of said city. 

§ 16 The commissioners elected or appointed under this act shall, within ten 
days after being notified of their election, and before entering upon the duties 
of their office, take and subscribe the official oath prescribed by law for other 
city officers, and file the same in the city clerk's office, and any neglect so to do 
shall be deemed a refusal to serve, and the office shall thereupon become vacant. 

§ 17 A majority of said board of education shall constitute a quorum, but a 
less number may adjourn. 

§ 18 Regular meetings of said board of education, for the transaction of 
business, shall be held on the first Tuesday in each month, and said board shall 
make such rules and regulations for its own government, as it shall from time 
to time find necessary. Special meetings of said board may be held on the order 
of the president, or upon the request of any two members of said board, after 
due notice to all the members, by the secretary, of the time, place and purpose 
of such special meetings, and no business shall be transacted thereat except such 
as shall be specified in the notice thereof. At any meeting held without due 
notice, at which every member of said board shall be present and consent, any 
business may be transacted which might have been transacted if the meeting had 
been a duly called special meeting. In the absence of the president the board 
may appoint some other member to preside and perform the duties of president. 
{As amended by L. ipii, ch. 4.22.) 

§ 19 The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be its duty 
to continue, organize, establish and maintain such and so many public schools in 
said city, as said board may deem necessary for the proper education of all 
persons entitled to the benefits thereof, to purchase, lease, or improve sites and 
additions thereto for schoolhouses ; to purchase, build, lease, enlarge, alter, im- 
prove or repair schoolhouses and their outhouses and appurtenances ; and if it is 
unable to agree with the owner or owners for the purchase of any real estate 



EDUCATION CODE 2"] 

required by it for the site of any schoolliouse or additional land adjoining to and 
for the enlargement of an established site, to acquire title to such property by 
condemnation, as provided in title i of chapter 23 of the Code of Civil Procedure ; 
to sell and convey any real or personal property belonging to the school fund, 
in the manner hereinafter provided; to purchase, exchange, improve and repair 
any school apparatus, books, furniture or appendages and to defray the expenses 
of the school library or libraries and to furnish class or textbooks for the free 
use of the schools ; to have the care, custody and safekeeping of all the school 
property, both real and personal, and to prescribe penalties for any damage 
thereto, or misuse thereof ; to contract with and employ all necessary teachers 
for such public schools subject to the removal of any such teacher whenever 
said board may deem it for the best interests of the schools; to establish evening 
schools for the benefit of those whose ages or vocations are such as to preclude 
their attendance upon the day schools in this act provided for ; to pay the wages 
of teachers employed by said board out of the fund appropriated by law, for 
such purpose ; to audit and pay all necessary contingent expenses of the board, 
including the salary of the secretary and superintendent, the wages of janitors, 
the cost of fuel and any and all necessary expenditures incurred in the conduct 
of said schools, and the payment of the same or such parts thereof as shall be 
allowed by the said board, shall be made directly to such claimants, out of moneys 
belonging to the public school fund, upon the order of said board, as hereinafter 
provided, but the aggregate of the expenditures and contracts shall not exceed 
the amount of moneys which shall be subject to their order during the then 
current year; to have the general superintendence and management of the public 
schools of said city, and from time to time adopt, alter, modify, or repeal, as they 
may deem expedient, any rules or regulations for the organization, government 
and instruction of said schools, for the reception of pupils, their transfer from 
one department to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their 
degrees of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of the 
good order, prosperity and public utility of said schools ; and to that end said 
board is hereby vested with the control and authority over all pupils attending 
the schools under its charge, both while in attendance, and in going to and re- 
turning from schools. {As amended hy L. i8ps, ch. ii/; L. igo6, ch. 68.) 

§ 20 The academic high school shall be considered as one of the pubHc schools 
of said city, and shall be continued as provided in section 3 of chapter 176 of 
the Laws of 1866, and said high school shall be entitled to all the privileges of 
the academies of the State, and be subject to visitations from the Regents of the 
University, and share in the distribution of the moneys of the literature and other 
funds of the State, and be subject to all the rules and regulations applicable to 
the incorporated academies of the State. 

§ 21 In no case shall tuition be charged for any pupil whose parents or legal 
guardians are residents of said city, but upon the payment of such tuition as the 
board of education may from time to time prescribe, the said board may admit 
to any of the public schools under its charge any pupil or pupils whose parents or 
legal guardians are not residents of said city. Any school tax paid to the city 



28 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

treasurer of said city, by the parent or legal guardian of any such nonresident 
pupil, may be applied toward the payment of said tuition for the current school 
year in which said tax is levied and paid, and not otherwise. (As amended by 
L. i8/p, ch. 318.) 

§ 22 It shall be the duty of said board of education to elect a secretary, who 
shall hold office during the pleasure of the board. They shall fix his salary, and 
he shall be superintendent of all the schools under the care of the board. As 
superintendent he shall, under the direction of the board, determine the course 
of studies to be pursued in the different schools ; he shall hold teachers institutes 
as the board may direct ; he shall visit each school personally as often as his other 
duties will permit ; he shall recommend to the board such regulations as he may 
deem best for the management and control of the schools, and perform such 
other duties as the board may, from time to time, impose. As secretary he shall 
keep a record of the proceedings of each meeting of said board, which shall at 
all times be open to public inspection, shall countersign all checks, drafts or 
warrants drawn by the board, and perform all other duties which the board may 
from time to time enjoin. He shall annually present to the board at their regular 
meeting in August, a report which shall contain a statement of the condition of 
the schools for the year preceding, the number of scholars who have been in 
attendance during such year, the receipts and expenditures of the board on 
account of the public schools, and such other information as said board may 
require and direct. 

§ 23 The teachers in the public schools of said city shall be employed by 
said board of education, subject to such regulations and restrictions as said 
board may, from time to time, prescribe. Any teacher may be removed for 
cause, to be specified in the minutes of the proceedings of said board; and in 
case of such removal, the contract with such teacher shall cease. (As amended 
by L. 18 yg, ch. 318.) 

§ 24 The board of education is hereby authorized to organize a teachers 
class in the high school of said city, which shall be entitled to an annual allowance 
from the literature fund of the State of New York, on the conditions and rules 
of Regents of the University, adopted for the distribution of said fund in 
academies in which such classes are instructed. 

§ 25 The said board of education is hereby authorized to employ a teacher 
or teachers in the asylum for destitute children in said city, and pay therefor out 
of the public school fund in like manner as other teachers are paid, and said 
board is hereby authorized to supply said asylum with fuel for school purposes, 
in like manner as other schools are supplied ; and said board shall have the same 
care, oversight and direction of said school as of the other public schools in 
said city ; but nothing in this act shall be construed to give the board of education 
any control over the management of said asylum except as herein provided. The 
board of managers of said asylum, with the concurrence of said board of educa- 
tion, may at any time discontinue such school, in which case the pupils therein 
shall be entitled to all the privileges of any other of the public schools of said city. 

§ 26 The said board of education may impose a penalty, not exceeding one 



EDUCATION CODE 29 

hundred dollars in any one case, for any misuse of, or damage to, any real or 
personal property under its charge, and such penalty, together with costs, shall 
be collected in the name of said board, in the same manner that penalties for the 
violation of the ordinances of the common council of said city are collected, and 
when so collected shall be paid to the treasurer and tax receiver of said city, to 
be placed by him to the credit of the general school fund; and the parent or 
guardian of any minor, and the master or mistress of any apprentice or servant, 
shall be liable for any such penalty and costs for a violation by any such minor, 
apprentice or servant, of any ordinance adopted by the board of education. It 
shall be sufficient notice of any ordinance imposing such penalty to cause the 
same to be pubhshed in any daily newspaper of said city for one week. 

§ 27 The said board of education may sell and dispose of any personal prop- 
erty, at any time belonging to the school fund of said city, by a vote of a majority 
of the members of said board, at any regular meeting, after one month's notice 
thereof; and may also sell, convey and dispose of any real estate at any time, 
belonging to said school fund by a vote of two-thirds of the members of said 
board, at any two regular consecutive monthly meetings of said board, and the 
avails of the sales of any such real or personal property shall be deposited with 
the treasurer and tax receiver of said city to the credit of the general school fund. 

§ 28 It shall be the duty of said board of education, annually, on or before 
the 15th day of May, to fix, determine, certify, and report to the common council 
and to the board of estimate and control of said city, the amount of money which, 
in addition to the amount of money annually apportioned to the public schools of 
said city out of the funds belonging to the State, shall be necessary to defray the 
expenses of all the public schools under the charge of said board for the ensuing 
year, for building, fuel, furniture, school apparatus, repairs, insurance, teachers 
wages, and contingent expenses of the schools, and to pay the compensation of 
the secretary and superintendent aforesaid and the contingent expenses of said 
board. A statement of the amount so fixed, determined and certified shall be 
filed in the office of the city clerk by said board. The amount so certified, ex- 
clusive of the amount required for building purposes, shall in no case exceed a 
sum equal to forty dollars per capita, based on the average yearly member- 
ship of persons in attendance as day pupils in the public schools for any one 
of the five school years next preceding. And the amount to be raised for building 
purposes shall in no case exceed eight thousand dollars in any one year, unless 
by the unanimous consent of every member of said board. To the statement 
filed as hereinbefore provided there shall be appended a certificate setting forth 
the average membership of day pupils in each of said public schools for each 
month of the school year upon which the aforesaid average yearly membership is 
based. (As amended by L. 1879, ch. 318; L. 1909, ch. 591; L. 1911, ch. 422; 
L. 19 1 4, ch. 286.) 

§ 29 The common council of said city shall annually levy and raise the 
amount of money so certified and reported by the board of education, and the 
amount so to be raised shall be levied and collected at the same time and in the 
same manner as the other general taxes of the said city are levied and raised, 



30 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and in addition thereto; but all moneys raised for school purposes under this 
act shall be rated separately and as collected shall be kept separate and distinct 
from the other taxes levied and collected for city purposes. 

§ 30 All moneys levied and raised for the support of public schools, together 
with the public money received from the State, and all moneys received from 
other sources for school purposes, shall be paid to the treasurer and tax receiver 
of the city of Auburn, in trust, and shall by him be kept separate and distinct 
from other moneys, and shall at least as often as once in each week, be by him 
deposited to the credit of the board of education in some bank of deposit or 
trust, to be designated as hereinafter directed, said deposits to be known and 
distinguished as the public school fund of the city of Auburn. Said fund so 
deposited as aforesaid shall be drawn out only upon order of the board of educa- 
tion, by resolution adopted by a two-thirds vote of said board and signed by the 
president, and countersigned by the secretary of said board of education. Such 
order shall specify for what purpose the amount named therein shall be paid, 
and the secretary of such board shall keep an accurate account of all orders 
drawn on said fund, in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, and shall 
report at each monthly meeting to the board the amount of such orders drawn 
from the commencement of the fiscal year to the date of such report. The treas- 
urer and tax receiver shall also report to the said board, on the first day of each 
and every month, the condition of the school fund in his hands, if any, also the 
amount of said fund which has come into his hands during the preceding month, 
and when and where deposited. And the bank or trust company holding said 
deposit shall be required to report to said board of education, on the first day 
of each and every month, the transactions of said board with said bank or trust 
company during the preceding month, stating the amount on hand at the com- 
mencement of the month; the several amounts deposited during the month, the 
amount of interest allowed on monthly balances on hand as shall be agreed 
upon, and the amounts drawn, and on whose order, and the balance in bank to 
the credit of the board at the close of the month. In case said treasurer and 
tax receiver shall retain in his hands, contrary to the true intent and meaning 
of this act, or shall transfer or divert any part of the school moneys coming into 
his hands, to any other purpose than is herein specified, it shall be the duty of 
said board immediately to commence suit in the Supreme Court against such 
treasurer and tax receiver and his sureties, for the recovery of the sum so un- 
lawfully retained, transferred or diverted, and double taxable costs shall be 
allowed against such treasurer and tax receiver and his sureties, upon recovery 
of any sum against them, and such treasurer and tax receiver and his sureties 
are hereby declared to be liable on their official bonds for any default, delinquency, 
neglect or misconduct in relation to the trust created by this act. And the 
treasurer and tax receiver shall for each and every wilful violation of either of 
the provisions of this section, be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon 
conviction thereof, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, 
or to imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding six months, or 
to both such fine and imprisonment, in the discretion of the court before which 



EDUCATION CODE 3^ 

such conviction shall be had. The board of education of said city of Auburn 
are hereby authorized at their first regular meeting in September, in each and 
every year, to designate the bank of deposit or trust wherein said school funds 
shall be deposited for the ensuing year. The board of education shall require 
from any depository designated for the deposit of such school moneys, a bond in 
such amount and with such sureties as shall be approved by the mayor of said city 
of Auburn, and by the president of said board of education for the safekeeping 
of such school moneys, and the payment of the same as required upon the orders 
of the board, and which said bond shall be renewed whenever required by said 
board of education. Such bond shall be made payable to said board of education, 
and filed in the office of the clerk of Cayuga county, and suit shall be brought 
thereon, by said board of education, for any deficiency in complying with any of 
the conditions thereof, whenever required by a vote of a majority of said board. 

§ 31 The said board of education shall, annually, on the ist day of August, 
or as soon thereafter as practicable, cause a report to be prepared and published 
for general distribution among the patrons of the public schools of said city, 
which shall give in detail all practical information concerning the management, 
expenses and progress of the public schools aforesaid. 

§ 32 An appeal may be taken to the State Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion from any proceeding of the said board of education. 

§ ss All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. 

§ 34 This act shall take effect immediately. 



BAT AVI A 

Chapter 354, Laws of 1914 

An act to incorporate the city of Batavia 

TITLE XIV 
CITY SCHOOLS 

Section 200 City schools. The territory included within the boundaries of 
the city of Batavia shall remain as a part of Batavia union school district number 
2, subject to alterations in accordance with the provisions of the school law. 
Such school district shall be entitled to and continue to have all the rights, powers, 
privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by law or otherwise upon 
schools and school districts, and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, 
powers of inspection and superintendence applicable to schools and school 
districts. 

§ 201 Separate returns of unpaid school taxes on real estate shall be made 
in the school district in which the city of Batavia is included, one for such 
unpaid taxes on real estate within the city, and the other for such unpaid taxes 
on real estate without the city. Such account of unpaid taxes upon real estate 
without the city shall be transmitted to the treasurer of the county as provided 
in the Education Law. Upon receiving such account of unpaid taxes for school 
purposes on real estate within the city from the collector, the trustees of the 
school district shall compare it with the original tax list, and if they find it 
to be a true transcript they shall add to such account their certificate to the effect 
that they have compared it with the original tax list and found it to be correct, 
and shall immediately transmit the account, affidavit and certificate to the 
treasurer of the city. Out of any moneys in the city treasury, raised for con- 
tingent expenses, or for the purpose of paying the amount of the taxes so 
returned unpaid, the city treasurer shall pay to the district treasurer the amount 
of the taxes so returned as unpaid, and if there are no moneys in the treasury 
applicable to such purpose, the city council, at the time of levying such unpaid 
taxes, as hereinafter provided, shall pay to the district treasurer the amount 
thereof, by voucher or draft on the city treasurer, in the same manner as other 
city charges are paid. Such account, affidavit and certificate shall be laid by the 
city treasurer before the city council, who shall cause the amount of such unpaid 
taxes, with seven per centum of the amount in addition thereto, to be levied upon 
the lands upon which the same were imposed; and if imposed upon the lands 
of any incorporated company, then upon such company; and when collected the 
same shall be returned to the city treasurer to reimburse the amount so advanced, 
with the expenses of collection. Any person whose lands are included in any 
such account may pay the tax assessed thereon, with five per centum added 
thereto, to the city treasurer, at any time before the city council shall have 
directed the same to be levied. The same proceedings in all respects shall be 
had for the collection of the amount so directed to be raised by the city council 
as are provided by law in respect to the city taxes. (As added by L. 1915, ch. 
536.) [32] 



BEACON 

Chapter 539, Laws of 1913 

An act to incorporate the city of Beacon 

Section 102 Schools and the boards of education, i All the territory in- 
cluded within the said city of Beacon shall hereafter be one school district and 
so much of the school districts at present included within the present villages 
of Matteawan and Fishkill I-anding shall cease to exist from the ist day of 
September, 1913, except that the portions of said districts which shall remain 
outside of said city boundaries shall continue as districts until they shall have 
changed in accordance with the Education Law. Upon the taking effect of this 
act, the district superintendent of schools having jurisdiction shall apportion the 
outstanding bonded indebtedness of the school districts included within the 
present villages of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing between that portion of such 
districts which is included under this act within the city of Beacon and the 
portion remaining outside of such city according to the assessed valuation of 
such portions of such districts and the amounts of said indebtedness so appor- 
tioned shall become a charge for principal and interest upon the said city and 
upon the districts formed by this act. 

2 The school district of the city of Beacon shall be controlled by a board of 
education consisting of nine members appointed by the city council. At a regular 
meeting of the council to be held during June 1913, the council shall choose nine 
members to hold office from and after September i, 1913, three for three years, 
three for two years and three for one year, all from September i, 1913 ; and there- 
after at such meeting in every June the council shall choose three members of 
the school board to hold office for three years. Any person of good moral 
character and legal age and not otherwise an official or employee of the city, 
who is a resident of the city, may be eligible to appointment as such member 
of the school board. 

3 The school board shall have exclusive charge and control of all school matters 
and school property of the city. It shall prepare an annual report and a budget 
for the ensuing year for the annual meeting of the council. The commissioner 
of finance shall have the custody of all school funds, but shall pay out the same 
on the written order of the school board properly countersigned by its president 
and clerk. 

4 The board of education and its successors shall possess all the powers con- 
ferred and discharge all the duties imposed by this act or by any general law 
of this State relating to school districts in cities; or relating to the board of 
education of such districts. It shall have power to appoint a clerk and fix 
his salary. 

2 I23] 



34 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 

5 The commissioner of finance is hereby designated as the person to receive 
all public money which the said city, or the schools therein, are or shall be entitled 
to receive from the State, or by tax or by loan from the city, or otherwise. 

6 Money for all school purposes, including erection of new buildings, repairs, 
additions to present structures and the purchase of land for school purposes, 
shall be raised by the city council in accordance with the general provisions of 
the charter. 



BINGHAMTON 

Chapter 751, Laws of 1907 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Binghamton 

TITLE XVI 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
Section 384 Existing board of education continued; appointment of commissioners of 
education ; filling of vacancies ; oath of office 

385 Removals from office 

386 Meetings; president and secretary; quorum; president pro tempore 

387 Duties of secretary; proceedings to be published 

388 Money to be raised for certain purposes 

389 Fiscal year ; annual estimate ; amount that may be raised 

390 Expenditures, limited ; liability for exceeding limit 

391 City treasurer to receive State moneys 

392 Moneys, how paid out by treasurer 

393 Treasurer to report when required 

394 Powers of board of education 

395 Admission to public schools 

396 High school and academy 

397 Appointment and removal of superintendent of schools 

398 Superintendent of buildings ; truant officer 

399 Annual report to Superintendent of Public Instruction 

400 Repairs ; sale, purchase or lease of school property 

401 Title of school property; taking property in trust for schools 

402 Moneys received from sale of school property; how disposed of 

403 Power of common council to pass ordinances for school purposes 

404 Board to certify necessity for bonding 

405 Visitation 

Section 384 Existing board of education continued; appointment of com- 
missioners of education; filling of vacancies; oath of office. The existing 
board of education of the city of Binghamton with its successors shall continue 
to be a body corporate in relation to the powers and duties conferred by this 
act and otherwise by general laws of the State and the commissioners thereof 
now in office shall continue in office until the expiration of their respective terms, 
and they and their successors shall serve without compensation. The vacancies 
occurring in said board by the expiration of the terms of the commissioners 
whose terms expire on the ist day of February, 1908, and the ist day of 
February, 1909, shall not be filled, and after February i, 1909, said board shall 
consist of but five members. On the ist day of January, 1910, and on each 
1st day of January thereafter the mayor shall appoint one commissioner of 
education for the term of five years from the ist day of February next after 
his appointment, and whenever a vacancy shall exist, other than in the office 
of the commissioners whose terms expire February i, 1908, and February i, 1909, 

f35] 



36 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the mayor shall fill such vacancies by appointment for the balance of the term. 
Each commissioner within five days after his appointment, shall take and file 
with the city clerk the constitutional oath of office. 

§ 385 Removals from office. Any member of said board of education may 
be removed from office for cause by the mayor of said city, provided, always, 
that such member shall be served with a copy of the charges preferred against 
him and notice of trial, not less than twenty days previous to the day fixed for 
the hearing of the matter, by leaving such copy and notice at his residence 
in the city, or by sending the same to his address by mail; the accused member 
on his appearing before the mayor for trial, shall have the usual privileges 
in similar cases extended to him in his defense. 

§ 386 Meetings; president and secretary; quorum; president pro tempore. 
The board of education shall meet annually on the first Monday in February, 
at seven and one-half o'clock in the afternoon, and at such other times as it 
shall by resolution designate. Special meetings may be called by the president 
of the board, or by any two commissioners, by causing a written or printed 
notice to be served upon each member of the board, either personally or by 
leaving the same at least forty-eight hours before the time of such special 
meeting, at his usual place of residence or business, with some person of suitable 
age and discretion. At such annual meeting, the board shall select a president 
from its number, who shall hold his office until the next annual meeting of the 
board, and may appoint a secretary, who shall hold his office during the pleasure 
of the board, and who shall receive a salary to be fixed by said board at the 
time of his appointment, payable monthly. A majority of the board shall con- 
stitute a quorum, but a less number may adjourn. Whenever the president shall 
be absent or unable to act, a president pro tempore shall be appointed. 

§ 387 Duties of secretary ; proceedings to be published. The secretary shall 
keep a record of the proceedings of the board, which shall be published in the 
official paper from time to time as they occur, the same as the proceedings of 
the common council. Said record or a transcript thereof, certified by the presi- 
dent and secretary, shall be received in all courts and places as prima facie 
evidence of the facts therein set forth. Such record, and all the books, accounts, 
vouchers and papers of the said board shall at all times be subject to public 
inspection. The secretary shall perform the duties prescribed by law, and such 
other duties as the board may impose. In his absence a secretary pro tempore 
may be appointed, who shall exercise all the power of the secretary. 

§ 388 Money to be raised for certain purposes. The common council of 
the city of Binghamton shall have power, and it shall be its duty to raise, from 
time to time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said 
city liable to taxation for city or county charges, such sums as may be estimated 
and certified by the board of education, and determined by the board of estimate 
and apportionment and the common council to be necessary and proper for any 
or all of the following purposes : 

I To purchase or lease sites for school buildings. 



EDUCATION CODE 37 

2 To- build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter or repair schoolhouses, their out- 
houses and appurtenances, and to improve schoolhouse grounds. 

3 To pay such part of the salaries of the superintendent and teachers as shall 
be due, after the apphcation to that purpose of the public moneys which may be 
appropriated and provided therefor by law. 

4 To defray the expenses of the city school library, if any, including the 
purchase and repair of cases and furniture therefor; the purchase, and rebinding 
of books, and the salaries of librarian and assistants, if any; and to purchase, 
exchange, improve and repair school apparatus and cabinets therefor; and class 
or textbooks for the pupils attending the public schools of the city. 

5 To defray the ordinary and contingent expenses of the schools and board 
of education, including the seating, furnishing, heating, lighting, keeping in order, 
and insuring the several school buildings, and to pay the salary of the secretary, 
and all other expenses not provided for under the four preceding heads. 

The sums raised or received for said several purposes shall be known respec- 
tively as the " site fund," the " building fund," the " teachers' fund," the " library 
and book fund," and the " general fund." 

§ 389 Fiscal year ; annual estimate ; amount that may be raised. The fiscal 
year of the board of education shall commence on the first Monday of August 
in each year. The board shall on or before the first day in October, annually, 
make and certify to the mayor a detailed estimate of the amount necessary to 
be raised by tax for each fund or class of purposes aforesaid for the ensuing 
fiscal year, a statement of the number of teachers employed or proposed to be 
employed in each school during the ensuing year and the salary paid or proposed 
to be paid to each teacher, and, also, a statement of the amount received from 
the State for school purposes during the preceding fiscal year. Upon the recep- 
tion of said estimate the mayor shall place the same before the board of estimate 
and apportionment, which shall proceed to consider the same and approve 
increase or diminish any or all of said amounts, in the same manner as the 
estimates of other departments; but nothing herein contained shall be deemed 
to authorize the board of estimate and apportionment or the common council 
to increase or decrease the salary of any individual teacher or employee of the 
department of education. The aggregate amount to be raised by tax for school 
purposes in any one year shall not be less than a sum equal to twenty-five dollars, 
nor more than a sum equal to forty dollars per capita based on the total number 
of persons enrolled as pupils in the public schools for the school year ending on 
the preceding thirty-first day of July, as certified to the state department of edu- 
cation. (As amended by L. 19 14, ch. 28p.) 

§ 390 Expenditures, limited; liability for exceeding limit. The board of 
education shall, during the ensuing fiscal year, limit the expenditure so as not 
to exceed any fund, and not lessen the time each school shall be kept open. 
In case the board shall, during any fiscal year, authorize expenditures from any 
fund in excess of the whole amount of such fund, the city shall not be liable 
for such excess, but the members of the board of education voting therefor, or 
any of them, shall be personally liable therefor to the party entitled to payment. 



33 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 391 City treasurer to receive State moneys. The city treasurer shall 
receive all moneys appropriated by the State to said city for school purposes, 
and shall, at the proper time in each year, draw upon the treasurer of Broome 
county, or other proper official therefor. 

§ 392 Moneys, how paid out by treasurer. All moneys applicable to the 
maintenance of the schools or library, from whatever source received, shall be 
paid to the treasurer of the city, and by him placed to the credit of the educational 
fund, and shall be used or paid out by him only upon bills properly allowed and 
audited in the same manner as obtains in the case of other bills against the city. 

§ 393 Treasurer to report when required. The treasurer shall, at all times 
when called upon, report to the board the amount of money in his hands 
to the credit of the educational fund. For any default, delinquency or official 
misconduct in relation to the keeping 'or payment of any school moneys on the 
part of the treasurer, the board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in 
the name of " The city of Binghamton," upon his official bond. 

§ 394 Powers of board of education. Subject to the provisions of this act 
and the Consolidated School Law, the board of education shall have the power 
and it shall be its duty: 

1 To establish, organize and maintain in said city such and so many free 
schools as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, including an academical 
department or high school, and change or discontinue the same in its discretion. 

2 Have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appurtenances, and see that the ordinances of the common 
council in relation thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

3 Contract with, employ and fix the salaries of all teachers in the schools of 
the city, and at pleasure remove them, under such rules and regulations as may 
be established by law, or by the Department of Public Instruction of the State. 

4 Have the entire supervision and management of the public schools of said 
city, and the right from time to time to adopt, amend or repeal rules and regula- 
tions for their organization, government and instruction, the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one schoolroom, or schoolhouse to another, for their 
advancement from class to class, as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, 
and generally for the promotion of good order and the prosperity of said schools. 

5 To prescribe the textbooks to be used in the schools, and to compel uniform- 
ity in the use of the same, and to furnish the same to the pupils attending the 
public schools of the city, in such grades as the board of education may deter- 
mine, out of any moneys provided for that purpose. 

6 Have all the powers and be charged with all the duties of the commissioners 
of common schools, and of trustees of the several school districts in this State, 
under the general statutes relating to common schools, so far as such powers 
and duties can be made applicable to the schools herein provided for, and are 
not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

§ 395 Admission to public schools. The public schools of the city shall be 
free to all pupils between the ages of 4 and 21 years, who are actual residents 
of said city; provided that pupils between the ages of 4 and 6 years shall be 



EDUCATION CODE 39 

admitted only to a kindergarten department, and those under 5 years of age 
shall be admitted to such department only at such times in the school year as 
may be fixed by the superintendent of schools and approved by the board of 
education. The board of education shall decided all questions of residence aris- 
ing under this section. The said board may allow children of nonresidents to 
attend the schools of said city, and shall prescribe the rates of tuition of such 
nonresidents, and, also, for all pupils over 21 years of age, payable always in ad- 
vance. 

§ 396 High school and academy. The existing high school shall continue to 
be recognized as one of the academies of this State, and shall be subject to the 
visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall share in the annual dis- 
tribution of the literature and other school funds in the same manner, and to 
the same extent, and upon the same conditions as other academies and the 
academic departments of union free schools; and the Regents shall annually 
pay to the city treasurer, for the use of the board of education, the distributive 
share of said funds to which said high school is entitled. 

§ 397 Appointment and removal of superintendent of schools. The board 
of education may appoint a superintendent of the public schools of the city, 
who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the board, provided, only, that he 
shall not be removed from office except at the close of the school year unless 
charges in writing be preferred against him and he be given a period of ten 
days in, which to file an answer and an opportunity to appear before the board 
and be heard in his defense at the expiration of said ten days. The superin- 
tendent shall be under the control of the board and it shall establish rules and 
regulations prescribing his general powers and duties. His salary shall be fixed 
by the board and be paid out of the teachers' fund. 

§ 398 Superintendent of buildings ; truant officer. The board may appoint a 
superintendent of school buildings and a truant officer, to hold office during the 
pleasure of the board, but neither of such officers, when appointed, shall be re- 
moved except in the manner provided in the last preceding section, for the re- 
moval of the superintendent of schools. The superintendent of buildings shall 
perform such duties with relation to the school buildings, school furniture and 
fixtures as the rules of the board shall prescribe, or the board from time to time 
direct. The truant officer shall perform such duties as are imposed by the school 
law of the State. The salaries of the superintendent of buildings and the truant 
officer shall be fixed by the board, subject to the approval of the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment. 

§ 399 Annual report to Superintendent of Public Instruction. Between the 
1st and 15th days of October in each year, the board shall make to the Commis- 
sioner of Education of the State a report; in writing, giving such information 
as he may require, concerning the public schools of the city, and the receipts and 
expenditure of school moneys during the preceding fiscal year. 

§ 400 Repairs ; sale, purchase or lease of school property. Whenever, in the 
opinion of the board, any repairs are needed to the public school buildings in 
the city, it shall direct the superintendent of buildings to make application to the 



40 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

board of contract and supply for authority to make such repairs. It shall recom- 
mend to the common council, when, in its opinion, the public interests require, 
the sale of any schoolhouse, the purchase or lease of any land or building for a 
schoolhouse, and when authorized thereto by an ordinance of the common 
council, the board of contract and supply may make such sale, purchase or lease 
in the manner in this act provided ; and it may recommend to the common council 
the erection of any school building; and when authorized thereto by an ordinance 
of the common council, the board of contract and supply may erect such build- 
ing in the manner and upon the conditions prescribed in this act ; but the plans 
and specifications for such building shall, before their adoption by the common 
council, be approved by the board of education. 

§ 401 Title of school property; taking property in trust for schools. The 
title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus, appurtenances 
and of all other school property shall be vested in the city of Binghamton. Such 
city in its corporate capacity may take and hold any personal or real estate trans- 
ferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, in trust, for the benefit of the 
schools of said city, or any of them, whether the same be transferred in terms 
to said city, by its corporate name, or by any other designation, or to any person 
or body for the benefit of said schools, or any of them. The board of education, 
when authorized by the common council, may sell and transfer any personal 
property not needed for the purposes of this act; and such board, and the city 
of Binghamton, in their corporate capacities, by their concurrent action may, by 
an instrument executed by both grantors, sell and convey any of the real property 
held for school purposes, and all interests of the city therein. 

§ 402 Moneys received from sale of school property; how disposed of. 
All moneys received for the use of the board from the sale of school property, 
and from other sources than taxes and the State, shall be paid to the city treas- 
urer and added to the several funds to be expended for the stated purposes 
thereof, as follows: From the sale or lease of sites, to the site fund; from the 
sale, lease or insurance of buildings, to the building fund; from tuition, to the 
teachers' fund; from the sale of library books and furniture, school books, ap- 
paratus and cabinets therefor, and from library fines, to the library and book 
fund; and from all other sources to the general fund. Moneys added to any 
fund, as aforesaid, may be transferred to any other fund by the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment on request of the board of education, but moneys raised 
by tax or provided by the State for specific purposes, shall not be diverted to 
other purposes. 

§ 403 Power of common council to pass ordinances for school purposes. 
The common council shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordi- 
nances and regulations as the board of education may report as necessary for 
the protection, preservation, safekeeping and care of the school buildings, lots, 
libraries and property belonging to or connected with the schools of said city. 
All penalties for the violation thereof, when collected, shall be paid to the treas- 
urer of the city to the credit of the educational fund. 



EDUCATION CODE 4^ 

§ 404 Board to certify necessity for bonding. If in the judgment of the 
board it shall become necessary at any time to raise any greater amount of money 
for the purchase of sites, the erection, alteration or repair of school buildings, 
or their appurtances, than shall have been included in the site and building funds 
in the last preceding tax levy for school purposes, said board shall certify such 
opinion to the common council, showing in such certificate the facts which to 
said board appear to render the raising of such money necessary, together with 
the amount desired. Upon the receipt of such certificate it shall be the duty 
of said common council to submit to the resident taxpayers of the city, at a 
special election to be held in the manner provided in title seventeen of this act, the 
question of raising the estimated amount by the issue of the bonds of the city. 

§ 405 Visitation. Each school commissioner shall visit all the schools in said 
city at least once in each year of his official term; and the board of education 
shall provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or 
more of its members at least once in each term. 

Section 6 provides for five commissioners of education and section 8 provides 
that such commissioners shall be appointed by the mayor. Section 9 fixes the 
term of office five years. Section lo- provides that officers shall be resident 
electors of the city but that such provision shall not prohibit the appointment of 
women to such office. Section 14 requires the usual constitutional oath of office. 



BUFFALO 

Chapter 217, Laws of 191 4 * 

An act to provide a charter for the city of Buffalo 

TITLE VIII 
ARTICLE I 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 290 Until otherwise provided by the council, the department of public 
affairs shall include within its jurisdiction the matter of public instruction, of 
which a board of education shall be the head. Such board shall consist of not 
less than five members, and as many more as the council shall by resolution deter- 
mine, one of whom shall be a woman. The members of the board shall serve 
without pay. Under the control of the council, they shall have charge of the 
public schools, their property, expenditures and affairs. The superintendent, 
selected by the council, shall have the immediate supervision of the schools, the 
hiring and discharge after a hearing of teachers in accordance with the provisions 
of this charter, or the rules adopted by the board of education, and subject to the 
general ordinances and regulations adopted by the council, 'and shall have the 
powers now possessed by the superintendent of education, not inconsistent 
herewith. 

§ 291 The city has power to establish, maintain and regulate public schools. 
The city shall be, by ordinance, divided into school districts, and from time to 
time redivided, and in each district there shall be maintained one or more primary 
or grammar schools. Such schools shall be open and free to all persons between 
five and twenty-one years of age, residing within their respective districts. The 
city may maintain and regulate one or more high schools, and it may also 
maintain and regulate schools for manual and technical training, into which 
may be admitted pupils who shall possess the qualifications prescribed by ordi- 
nance. The high school shall share in the literature fund of the State, and in 
all appropriations to academies. The primary and grammar schools shall share in 
the school fund of the State, and in the appropriations made to public schools. 

§ 292 All expenses of the school department shall be included in and paid out 
of the general fund. The council is hereby authorized to embrace in its estimate 
a sum not exceeding three hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually, which 
shall be used solely for the purchase of school lots, and the erection, enlargement, 
repairs and furnishing of school buildings. It shall be lawful for the city to raise 
an amount of money not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars to erect school 
buildings and to furnish the same and for such purpose it shall be lawful for 



^The provisions of the charter provided by chapter 217 of the Laws of 1914 become 
operative January i, 1916. Inconsistent provisions of the former charter (chapter L05 of the 
Laws of 1891, post, p. 46), will then be superseded by it. 

[42] 



EDUCATION CODE 43 

ihe council of said city by a vote of four-fifths of its members from time to time 
10 authorize the issue of the bonds of said city to an amount not to exceed in 
i"he aggregate three hundred thousand dollars, bearing interest at the rate of not 
more than five per centum per annum, interest to be paid semiannually ; said 
bonds to be due in not less than twenty nor more than fifty years from their date 
and to be sold at not less than their par value. 

§ 293 New teachers shall be selected for employment in the dififerent schools 
after this act takes effect from lists prepared as to grades and qualifications of 
applicants in the manner provided by resolution of the council ; all teachers shall 
be hired for the period of time and at the compensation and upon the terms 
and conditions provided by ordinance. The courses of study and systems of 
education shall be established by ordinance or in such other manner as the council 
may prescribe, and until provided shall remain as now established. 

§ 294 The council shall be the trustees and have the general care and manage- 
ment of the public school teachers retirement fund as now existing and shall have 
and possess all the powers relating thereto now possessed by the board of trustees 
thereof; the council is authorized to establish such rules and regulations for the 
administration and investment of said fund as it may from time to time deem best. 
Investment of the fund may be made in the name of the council, in bonds of the 
United States or of the State of New York or of any municipal corporation of 
the State. The fund shall consist of the moneys composing it at the time this 
act takes effect, 'and moneys to be hereafter paid to it in accordance with the 
provisions of this act. 

§ 295 The public school teachers retirement fund, created by this act, shall 
consist of the following moneys, to wit : 

1 All moneys comprising the pubhc school teachers retirement fund at the 
time this act takes effect. 

2 An amount not less than one per centum per annum, nor more than two per 
centum per annum of the respective salaries paid to the superintendent of 
education, assistant superintendent, supervisors, directors, principals and teachers, 
who are regularly employed in the public schools of Buffalo or in the department 
of public instruction of said city, to be taken from said salaries in four equal 
quarterly installments in the manner hereinafter described. 

3 Any moneys which may be appropriated for said fund by the council of 
said city. And the said council is hereby authorized and empowered in its dis- 
cretion to appropriate annually for said fund and to include in its annual estimate 
a sum of money which shall not exceed, however, the amount deducted for the 
previous school year from the salaries of the superintendents, supervisors, 
directors, principals and teachers, as provided in the foregoing subdivision 2 of 
this section. 

4 All moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise, 
for and on account of said fund. 

5 All moneys which may be derived by such other methods as may be duly 
and leg-allv devised for the increase of said fund. 



44 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 296 All persons employed in the department of public instruction and here- 
inbefore mentioned as contributors to said fund, shall become annuitants under 
this act in manner following, to wit:. Any female teacher, officer or employee' 
of the department of public instruction enumerated in section 295 of this act 
who shall have served for twenty years, and any male teacher, officer or employee 
of the department of public instruction enumerated in section 295 of this act who 
shall have served for twenty-five years, may be retired by the board of trustees 
on the recommendation of the superintendent of education and become an annui- 
tant of this fund during Hfe, if such teacher, officer or employee of the departme;nt 
of pubHc instruction enumerated in section 295 of this act has become permanently 
incapacitated for further efficient service; provided, however, that four-fifths of 
such service shall have been rendered in the public schools or department of 
public instruction of the city of Bufifalo, and any female teacher, officer or em- 
ployee of the department of public instruction enumerated in section 295 of this 
act who shall have served thirty years and any male teacher, officer or employee 
of the department of public instruction enumerated in section 295 of this act who 
shall have served thirty-five years, shall have the right to return and become 
an annuitant of said fund during life, provided, however, that four-fifths of such 
service shall have been rendered in the public schools or department of public 
instruction of said city. In case any teacher, officer or employee of the department 
of public instruction shall fail to be reappointed after having served such period 
of time as would entitle him or her to the benefits of said fund under the pro- 
visions of this act, such teacher, officer or employee shall, notwithstanding such 
termination of service, receive the annuity hereby provided. But in case any 
such teacher, officer or employee shall be removed or dismissed from service, of 
fail of reappointment, by reason of misconduct, charged and established at the 
time of such termination of service, such teacher, officer or employee shall not 
be entitled to receive the benefits of said fund, but shall be entitled to receive 
forthwith, without interest, all moneys paid into said fund by him or her during 
such period of service. 

§ 297 Any teacher, officer or employee so retired or retiring shall receive as an 
annuity an amount equal to one-half of the annual salary paid to such teacher, 
officer or employee at the time of such retirement; said annuity shall not exceed 
the sum of eight hundred dollars per annum, which shall be paid by the said board 
of trustees out of the fund created in accordance with this act. 

§ 298 I All persons who are annuitants, as provided by this act, may become 
participants in full benefits provided that each such person pay into the public 
school teachers retirement fund such additional sum as will make his or her total 
payments equal to forty per centum of his or her salary at the time of his or 
her retirement. 

2 No person shall become an annuitant under this act until he or she shall 
have paid into the retirement fund an amount equal to forty per centum of his or 
her annual salary at the time of retirement; provided, however, that no person 
shall be required to pay into said fund more than fifteen hundred dollars. 



EDUCATION CODE 45 

§ 299 When in its judgment the available fund shall be inadequate fully to carry 
out the provisions of this act, said council is hereby given the power to use both 
the principal and the income of said fund for the payment of annuities herein- 
before mentioned, and shall have power to reduce from time to time the amount 
of all annuities ; provided, that such reduction shall be at the same rate in all cases. 

§ 300 If at any time a teacher, officer or employee of the department of public 
instruction enumerated in section 295 who shall be willing to continue to serve 
shall not be reelected or reemployed, or shall be discharged before the time when 
he or she would under the provisions of this act be entitled to an annuity, then 
such teacher shall be paid back all the money, without interest, which may have 
been deducted from his or her salary under the provisions of this act. 

§ 301 Deductions from salaries of teachers, officers or employees shall be made 
quarterly at the following rate, to wit : One per centum per annum of the salary 
of each of the persons enumerated in the foregoing subdivision 3 of section 29^ 
until such person shall have reached the maximum salary of the class or grade 
in which he or she is employed ; and two per centum per annum thereafter ; 
provided, however, that no person shall be required to pay into said public 
school teachers retirement fund more than the sum specified in section 298. 

§ 302 The superintendent of education shall, quarterly, in making the payrolls 
for the school department or the persons entitled to share in the fund hereby 
created, deduct a sum not exceeding the amount or proportion prescribed irt 
section 301 from the salary of each of such persons, and shall certify the amount 
of such deductions and the names of the persons from whose salaries such 
deductions shall have been made ; and such certificate shall accompany the pay- 
roll, and a warrant for the amount of the deductions so certified shall be drawn 
payable to the order of the city treasurer, who shall retain the same as a part of 
the fund, subject to the disposal of the council. 

§ 303 The treasurer of the said city shall be the custodian of said fund and 
he shall execute a bond to the city with good and sufficient sureties to be approved 
by the council, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his 
office. Such bond shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the city, and in 
case of a breach of the same or the conditions thereof, suit may be brought on 
the same in the name of said city for the use of the council or of any person or 
persons injured by sucli breach. 

§ 304 The word " teacher," as used in this act, shall include all employees of 
the department of public instruction enumerated in subdivisions 2 and 3 of 
section 295 of this act. 



46 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chapter 105, Laws of 189 1 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Buffalo 

TITLE 511 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

Section 324 The city has power to estabhsh, maintain and regulate public 
schools. 

§ 325 The city shall be, by ordinance, divided into school districts, and from 
time to time, redivided, and in each district there shall be maintained one or 
more primary or grammar schools. 

§ 326 Such schools shall be open and free to all persons between five and 
twenty-one years of age residing within their respective districts. 

§ 327 The city may maintain and regulate one or more high schools, it 
may also maintain and regulate schools for manual and technical training, into 
which may be admitted pupils who shall possess the qualifications prescribed by 
ordinance. 

§ 328 The high schools shall share in the literature fund of the State, and in 
all appropriations to academies. The primary and grammar schools shall share in 
the school fund of the State, and in the appropriations made to public schools. 

§ 329 All expenses of the school department shall be included in and paid out 
of the general fund. The comptroller is hereby authorized to embrace in his 
estimates a sum not exceeding two hundred and fifty thousand dollars annually, 
which shall be used solely for the purchase of school lots and the erection, en- 
largement, repairs and furnishing of school buildings. It shall be lawful for the 
city to purchase or acquire lands for school purposes and to erect, equip and 
furnish buildings thereon and to raise money for either or any of such purposes 
by issuing the bonds of the city in such amounts and payable at such times and 
places and bearing such rate of interest as the common council shall, from time 
to time, determine by resolution adopted by a vote of two-thirds of the members 
elected to each of the boards composing said common council ; said bonds, how- 
ever, to be due in not more than fifty years from their date and to be sold at not 
less than their par value and the accrued interest thereon. {As amended by L. 
i8gs, ch. S45; L. iSgg, ch. 586; L. 1913, ch. 13.) 

§ 330 The superintendent of education shall be at the head of this department. 
He shall from time to time recommend to the common council the course of study 
to be pursued in the different public schools, and such measures as will, in his 
judgment increase the usefulness and efficiency of the schools. He shall select all 
new teachers to be employed in the different schools, after this act shall take 
effect, from among the names from time to time certified to him, by the board of 
school examiners, except as hereinafter provided. He shall hire all teachers for 
the period of time, and at the compensation, and upon the terms and conditions 
provided by ordinance. He shall see that the courses of study and systems of 
education established by ordinance are observed. If none be established by 



EDUCATION CODE 47 

ordinance, he shall direct the courses of study and systems of education to be 
pursued. The teachers shall be subject to his orders and direction. He may 
suspend, and for cause, and after a hearing, with the concurrence of the mayor, 
dismiss any teacher. He shall, on the second Monday in December of each year, 
make a full and comprehensive report to the common council of the condition of 
the schools up to the thirtieth day of June Preceding. He shall appoint a citizen, 
who shall be well versed in the German as well as the English language, and 
whose duty it shall be to superintend the teaching of the Germ.an language in the 
public schools, and who shall also act, when not otherwise employed, as secretary 
to the superintendent. Nothing in this act contained shall be construed to au- 
thorize the appointment of more than one clerk for said department, unless au- 
thority therefor shall be given by the common council. All public school janitors 
provided by ordinance shall be appointed by said superintendent of education, 
and may be removed by him at his pleasure. (As amended by L. ipo^, ch. lop.) 
§ 331 The mayor shall, within thirty days after this act shall take effect, 
appoint five citizens of Buffalo, who shall be known and designated as " the 
board of school examiners." They and their successors in office shall each, before 
entering upon the performance of the duties of an examiner under this act, 
cjualify in the manner prescribed for officers of the city government. 

§ 332 The first examiners shall be appointed respectively one for one year, 
one for two years, one for three years, one for four years, and one for five years, 
from and after the dates of their respective appointments, unless sooner dis- 
qualified or removed, as hereinafter provided. The city clerk shall indorse, upon 
the oath of office of each examiner appointed as aforesaid, the date on which his 
term of office expires, and shall, at least thirty days before the expiration of 
such term, notify the mayor in writing of the name of the examiner whose term 
is to expire in that year. The mayor shall, on the expiration of the term of any 
examiner, appoint an examiner to succeed the one whose term shall then expire, 
and who shall hold office for the term of five years, unless sooner removed or 
disqualified as herein provided. 

§ 333 The mayor may at any time suspend, and for cause, and after a hearing 
remove any examiner appointed under this act. Whenever any one of the ex- 
aminers dies, resigns, is removed, or in any manner becomes disqualified to serve 
before the expiration of his or her term of oifice, the said office shall thereupon 
become vacant, and the mayor shall, within thirty days after receiving notice of 
such vacancy from the secretary of the board of examiners, appoint another 
qualified citizen to fill such vacancy, as provided heretofore for regular appoint- 
ments, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of such examiner, unless 
sooner removed or disqualified. 

§ 334 The examiners appointed under this act shall hold at least one stated 
meeting in each month. At the first meeting of the examiners, which must be 
held within fifteen days after their appointment, and annually thereafter, the 
examiners shall choose one of their number to act and be known as chairman. 



48 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

who shall preside at all sessions of the board. In case of the absence or in- 
ability of the chairman, the remaining examiners shall elect one of their number 
as chairman pro tempore to preside at any session. Three of their number shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. They shall also at their 
first session, held as herein provided, appoint a secretary who shall perform 
such duties as may be designated by the board and who shall continue in office 
during the pleasure of the board. It shall be the duty of the board at the first 
monthly meeting of each school term to assign certain schools to the different 
members of the board for visitation and inspection during said school term, and 
to change the said assignments each term, to the end that all the schools shall be 
visited and inspected by the board at least once in each term. (As amended by 
L. igoi, ch. 12/; L. igo8, ch. 336.) 

§ 335 Any person hereafter desiring to secure a position as teacher in any of 
the public schools of the city shall apply to the secretary of the board, who shall 
thereupon furnish to such applicant a blank application, approved as to form by 
the board ; the applicant shall fill out and sign said blank, stating in which of the 
three grades of teachers, hereinafter provided, he or she desires to be appointed. 
Such applicants^ shall then be presented to the board, which shall after receiving 
the same, properly filled out and signed as aforesaid, notify each applicant of the 
next time and place of holding the examination of applicants for positions as 
teachers hereinafter provided. 

§ 336 For the purposes of this act the teachers in all public schools in the city 
are hereby divided into the following grades designated, respectively : 

1 High school teachers. 

2 Principals of grammar and primary schools. 

3 Assistant teachers in grammar and primary schools. 

4 Teachers in special subjects. 

The superintendent shall, as soon as practicable after this act shall take effect 
and not later than thirty days thereafter, designate the subjects upon which appli- 
cants for teachers in their respective grades shall be examined, and prescribe the 
scope and limits of such examinations. The board of examiners shall, from time 
to time, prepare written or printed questions upon such subjects, within the scope 
or limits prescribed as aforesaid, which shall be used in the written examinations 
of such apphcants as hereinafter provided. The superintendent. may from time 
to time, as he deems necessary, change the subjects and the scope of such ex- 
aminations. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 62/.) 

§ 337 The examiners shall hold stated public examinations at such times as 
they may designate and at least twice in a year, of all the applicants who have 
filed their applications with the secretary, as hereinbefore provided. They shall 
cause due notice of the time and place of holding such examinations and the 
grades of teachers to be examined, to be published twice a week for four weeks, 

^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 49 

commencing six weeks prior to such examination, in three of the daily news- 
papers of the city, and no examination shall be held by them unless so noticed. 
At the time of holding such examinations, they may first examine the applicants 
orally, for the purpose of ascertaining their physical and moral fitness for teach- 
ing. The board shall have power to determine what qualifications shall be re- 
quired of applicants who desire to try the examinations for teachers' positions in 
the high school and special teachers' grades. No applicant in the principals' or in 
the assistant teachers' grades shall be admitted to the written examination herein- 
after provided for, unless he or she has had (a) successful experience in teaching 
for at least three years, or, in lieu thereof was (&) graduated from a high school 
or academy having a course of study of not less than three years, said course being 
approved by the board of school examiners of the city of Buffalo, or was gradu- 
ated from some institution of learning of equal or higher rank, approved by said 
board, and who, subsequent to such graduation in either case, was graduated 
from a school or class for professional training of teachers, having a course of 
study approved by said board, or (c) who was graduated from a normal school 
for the training of teachers, approved by said board. (As amended by L. ipo8, 
ch. 336.) 

§ 338 Each applicant who shall appear upon such oral examination to possess 
the moral, physical and general qualifications essential and requisite to make a 
good practical teacher, shall then be subjected by the examiners to a written ex- 
amination upon the subjects prescribed as aforesaid for the grade of teachers in 
which he or she seeks to qualify, by writing out, under the direction and super- 
vision of the examiners, the answers to the questions on the subjects prepared as 
hereinbefore provided. Before beginning such written examinations, each ap- 
plicant shall be required to select an envelop containing duplicate numbered cards, 
in such a manner that no one of the examiners shall know what number any 
applicant has. No two applicants will be furnished with the same number. 
Each applicant shall write his or her name upon such cards, and sign his or her 
examination paper with the number on such card, omitting the name, and place 
one card in a blank envelop and seal the same and deposit it in a box to be pro- 
vided by the examiners before examination, retaining the duplicate card. At the 
close of the examination each applicant shall hand his or her examination paper, 
folded in such a manner as to conceal the number so signed, to the chairman of 
said examiners. The papers shall be examined by the examiners and they shall, 
according to a uniform plan or standard, to be agreed to by them, mark on each 
paper the percentage which the applicant writing the same has passed, between 
one and one hundred inclusive, and after the papers are so marked the envelops 
containing the name of the applicant, and the numbers corresponding with their 
respective papers, shall be opened by the secretary in the presence of the board, 
and the names of the applicants indorsed upon their respective papers. The said 
examiners shall have power, according to a uniform plan or standard, to de- 
termine the relative value of the subjects upon which each applicant is examined. 
All such examination papers, together with the applications of all who try the 



qo THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

examinations, shall be filed and preserved in the office of the superintendent, for 
at least three years after they are so filed, during which time they shall be open to 
public inspection. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 62y.) 

§ 339 The candidates in the written examination in the high school teachers' 
grade shall be required to pass at least seventy per centum in each subject in- 
cluded within the group of subjects as shall be designated by the superintendent 
of education of the city of Buffalo. The candidates in the principal's, assistant 
teachers', and special grades shall be required to attain a general average in all 
subjects of at least seventy per centum. The board of school examiners shall 
have power to fix a standard of each subject in these grades. The secretary shall 
prepare a list of all those who have passed according to the regulations above 
mentioned, and he and the chairman shall certify such list to the superintendent, 
stating for which grade of teachers they were examined, and shall furnish to 
each applicant, who has so passed, a certificate signed by him and the chairman, 
stating the grade of teachers for which the applicant was examined, and that, in 
the judgment of the examiners, the person so examined is a person of good 
moral character, and quahfied to teach in such grade. This list shall be kept by 
the superintendent as a list of eligible candidates for three years from which to 
select teachers, and no teachers not employed in the public schools at the time 
when this act shall take effect shall thereafter be appointed or employed as a 
teacher in such schools, unless he or she has undergone the examination herein 
provided for, and holds such a certificate. In the employment of teachers, under 
this act, preference shall be given to residents of Buffalo. {As amended by L. 
1908, ch. 336.) 

§ 340 Nothing contained in this act shall in any manner affect or prohibit the 
reemployment of any teacher or teachers employed in said schools at the time 
when this act shall take effect, and they may be so appointed or reemployed with- 
out undergoing the qualifying examination provided for herein, in the discretion 
of the superintendent, as he "has heretofore employed them. 

§ 341 All new teachers appointed under the provisions of this act shall be first 
appointed on probation for six months before they shall be regularly employed as 
hereinbefore provided. Any teacher so employed shall receive the same salary 
for such period of probation as if regularly employed. 

§ 342 The financial officers of the city are hereby, prohibited from paying any 
salary to any person appointed a teacher in the public schools in violation of the 
provisions of this act. 

§ 343 Any person who fails to pass any examination as high as the standard of 
seventy per centum may at any time after the expiration of three months, and 
within one year from the time he or she last tried such examination, apply to the 
secretary for admission to the next succeeding examination of applicants for 
teachers in the same grade for which he or she was last examined, and he or she 
shall be admitted to such examination on the same basis as other applicants, with- 
out any further or different application, and without any further certificate or 
proof as to good moral character unless required to furnish the same by the 
examiners. 



EDUCATION CODE 51 

§ 343-a Any candidate for an assistant teacher's grade certificate, who in any 
one examination attains the required percentage in every subject included in the 
examination except one, may, after applying to the secretary for admission to the 
next succeeding examination for candidates for an assistant teacher's grade cer- 
tificate, try the examination in the one subject in which he or she had previously 
failed; and upon attaining the necessary percentage in said subject, such candi- 
date shall be rated on the same basis as other candidates successful in that ex- 
amination, and the name of such candidate shall be included in the list of teachers 
eligible to appointment in the grade of assistant teacher. (As added by L. ipii, 
ch. 386.) 

§ 344 The examiners may prepare, adopt, and promulgate such rules or regu- 
lations as they may deem fit and proper, not inconsistent with any of the pro- 
visions of this act, for the conduct and management of their examinations, and 
the government of their meetings, and any rules or regulations which will aid 
them in carrying out the provisions of this act. But all rules and regulations 
pertaining to the examinations oral or written shall be uniform. 

§ 345 The secretary shall keep a record of all their proceedings, which shall 
contain a list of all the applicants certified to the superintendent as eligible for 
positions as teachers, and the grades in which they have passed as well as all 
matters necessary for the information and the use of the board and the 
superintendent. 

§ 346 The board shall make an annual report of their proceedings to the 
common council, on the second Monday in December in each year, which shall 
contain a statement in regard to the general condition of the schools as ascer- 
tained by their inspection, and a statement of the practical workings and effect 
upon the public schools of the system of examinations provided for by this act, 
and any suggestions which they may deem proper as to the improvement of such 
rules, and for the more efficient accomplishment of the purposes of this act. 

§ 347 Any person who shall wilfully and corruptly by himself, or in coopera- 
tion with one or more persons, defeat, deceive, or obstruct any person in respect 
to his or her right of examination, according to the provisions of this act or the 
rules and regulations prescribed pursuant thereto, or who shall wilfully, cor- 
ruptly, or falsely mark, grade, estimate, or report upon the examination or proper 
standing of any person examined pursuant to the provisions of this act, or aid in 
so doing, or who shall wilfully or corruptly make any false representations con- 
cerning the same or concerning the persons examined, or who shall wilfully or 
corruptly furnish to any person any special or secret information for the pur- 
pose of either improving or injuring the prospects or chances of any person so 
examined or to be examined, shall, for each and any of said ofifenses, be deemed 
guilty of a misdemeanor. 

§ 348 The city shall provide a suitable place for the meetings of the examiners, 
and also a place for holding the examinations, and shall furnish all necessary 
stationery and other supplies for the board. The expenses incurred by the board 
in carrying out the provisions of this act, including salaries, shall be audited and 



52 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

paid like other accounts against the city, and shall be included in the expenses of 
the school department. {As amended by L. 18^2, ch. 22; L. 18^4, ch. jj.) 

§ A The mayor of the city of Buffalo, the superintendent of education, the 
chairman of the board of school examiners, the president of the Buffalo School- 
masters Association, and the president of the Women Teachers Association shall 
constitute a board of trustees who shall have general care and management of the 
public school teachers retirement fund created by this act. {As added by L. i8p6, 
ch. 928 ; and amended by L. ipoj, ch. ip2.) 

§ B The said board of trustees is empowered to invest said retirement fund in 
the name of the said board in bonds of the United States, or of the State of New 
York, or of any municipal corporation in the State of New York, and to make 
payment from said fund of annuities granted in pursuance of this act, and to 
take all necessary and proper action in the premises, and from time to time 
establish such rules and regulations for the administration and investment of 
said fund as it may deem proper. {As added by L. i8p6, ch. Q28; and amended 
by L. iQog, ch. 554.) 

§ C The public school teachers retirement fund, created by this act, shall con- 
sist of the following moneys, to wit : 

1 All moneys comprising the public school teachers retirement fund at the time 
of the passage of this act. 

2 An amount not less than one per centum per annum, nor more than two per 
centum per annum of the respective salaries paid to the superintendent of edu- 
cation, assistant superintendents, supervisors, directors, principals and teachers 
who are regularly employed in the public schools of Buffalo or in the department 
of public instruction of said city, to be taken from said salaries in four equal 
quarterly installments in the manner hereinafter described. 

3 Any moneys which may be appropriated for said fund by the common council 
of said city. And the said common council is hereby authorized and empowered 
in its discretion to appropriate annually for said fund and to include in its annual 
estimate a sum of money which shall not exceed, however, the amount deducted 
for the previous school year from the salaries of the superintendents, supervisors, 
directors, principals and teachers, as provided in the foregoing subdivision 2 of 
this section. 

4 All moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise, 
for and on account of said fund. 

5 All moneys which may be derived by such other methods as may be duly and 
legally devised for the increase of said fund. {As added by L. i8g6, ch. 028; and 
amended by L. ipop, ch. 534.) 

§ D All persons employed in the department of public instruction and herein- 
before mentioned as contributors to said fund, shall become annuitants under this 
act in manner following, to wit : Any female teacher, officer or employee of the 
department of public instruction enumerated in section C of this act who shall 
have served for twenty years, and any male teacher, officer or employee of the 
department of public instruction enumerated in section C of this act who shall 



EDUCATION CODE o3 

have served for twenty-five years, may be retired by the board of trustees on the 
recommendation of the superintendent of education and become an annuitant of 
this fund during life, if such teacher,, officer or employee of the department of 
public instruction enumerated in section C of this act has become permanently 
incapacitated for further efficient service; provided, however, that four-fifths of 
such service shall have been rendered in the public schools or department of 
'public instruction of the city of Buffalo. And any female teacher, officer or 
employee of the department of public instruction enumerated in section C of this 
act who shall have served thirty years and any male teacher, officer or employee 
of the department of public instruction enumerated in section C of this act who 
shall have served thirty-five years, shall have the right to retire and become an 
annuitant of said fund during Hfe, provided, however, that four-fifths of such 
service shall have been rendered in the public schools or department of public 
instruction of said city. In case any teacher, officer or employee of the depart- 
ment of public instruction shall fail to be reappointed or reelected after having 
served such period of time as would entitle him or her to the benefits of said fund 
under the provisions of this act, such teacher, officer or employee shall, notwith- 
standing such termination of service, receive the annuity hereby provided. But 
in case any such teacher, officer or employee shall be removed or dismissed from 
service, or fail of reappointment, by reason of misconduct, charged and estab- 
lished at the time of such termination of service, such teacher, officer or em- 
ployee shall not be entitled to receive the benefits of said fund, but shall be 
entitled to receive forthwith, without interest, all moneys paid into said fund by 
him or her during such period of service. (As added by L. i8p6, ch. p28; and 
amended by L. ipop, ch. 354.) 

§ E Any teacher, officer or employee so retiring or retiring shall receive as an 
annuity, an amount equal to one-half of the annual salary paid to such teacher, 
officer or employee at the time of such retirement, said annuity to be paid quar- 
terly, provided, however, that such annuity shall not exceed the sum of eight hun- 
dred dollars per annum, which shall be paid by the said board of trustees out of 
the fund created in accordance with this act. (As added by L. i8g6, ch. p28 ; and 
amended by L. ipop, ch. 554.) 

§ F I All persons who are annuitants, as provided by chapter 928 of the Laws. 
of 1896, may become participants in the full benefits of said act as hereby 
amended, provided that each such person pay into the public school teachers re- 
tirement fund such additional sum as will make his or her total payments equal to 
forty per centum of his or her salary at the time of his or her retirement. 

2 No person shall become an annuitant under this act until he or she shall have 
paid into the retirement fund an amount equal to forty per centum of his or her 
annual salary at the time of retirement; provided, however, that no person shall 
be required to pay into said fund more than fifteen hundred dollars. (As added 
hy L. i8p6, ch. p28; and amended by L. ipop, ch. 554.) 

§ G When in their judgment the available fund shall be inadequate fully to 
carry out the provisions of this act, said board of trustees is hereby given the 



54 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

power to use both the principal and the income of said fund for the payment of 
annuities hereinbefore mentioned, and shall have power to reduce from time to 
time the amount of all annuities ; provided, that such reduction shall be at the 
same rate in all cases. (As added by L. i8p6, ch. p28; and amended by L. ipop, 

ch. 554-) 

§ H If at any time a teacher, officer or employep of the department of public 
instruction enumerated in section C of this act who shall be willing to continue 
to serve shall not be reelected or reemployed, or shall be discharged before the 
time when he or she would under the provisions of this act be entitled to an 
annuity, then such teacher shall be paid back all the money, without interest, which 
may have been deducted from his or her salary under the provisions of this act. 
(As added by L. i8p6, ch. ^28; and amended by L. ipop, ch. 334.) 

§ I Deductions from salaries of teachers, officers or employees shall be made 
quarterly at the following rate, to wit : one per centum per annum of the salary of 
each of the persons enumerated in the foregoing subdivision 3 of section C until 
such person shall have reached the maximum salary of the class or grade in which 
he or she is employed ; and two per centum per annum thereafter ; provided, how- 
ever, that no person shall be required to pay into said public school teachers re- 
tirement fund more than the sum specified in the foregoing section F. (As added 
by L. iQop, ch. 554.) 

§ J The superintendent of education shall, quarterly, in making the payrolls 
for the school department or the persons entitled to share in the fund hereby 
created, deduct a sum not exceeding the amount or proportion prescribed in the 
foregoing section I from the salary of each of such persons, and shall certify the 
amount of such deductions and the names of the persons from whose salaries 
such deductions shall have been made; and such certificate shall accompany the 
payroll, and a warrant for the amount of the deductions so certified shall be 
drawn payable to the order of the city treasurer, who shall retain the same sub- 
ject to the disposal of the said board of trustees hereinbefore mentioned. (As 
added by L. i8p6, ch. p28; and amended by L. ipop, ch. 334.) 

§ K The treasurer of said city shall be the custodian of said fund and he shall 
execute a bond to the city with good and sufficient sureties to be approved by said 
board of trustees, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of his 
office. Such bond shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the city, and in case 
of a breach of the same or the conditions thereof; suit may be brought on the 
same in the name of said city for the use of said board or of any person or per- 
sons injured by such breach. The said treasurer shah report to the said board 
of trustees the amount and condition of said fund on June thirtieth of each year. 
(As added by L. i8p6, ch. p28 ; and amended by L. iQop, ch. 334.) 

§ L The word " teacher," as used in this act, shall include ah employees of the 
department of public instruction enumerated in subdivisions 2 and 3 of section C 
of this act. (As added by L. ipop, ch. 334.) 

Sections 45 and 47 provide for the election of the superintendent of education 
for a term of four years ; section 48 provides for the filing of a bond by such 
superintendent. 



CANANDAIGUA 

This city was incorporated by the Laws of 1913, chapter 371. No provision is 
made in the city charter for the government of the schools and such schools are 
therefore governed by the general provisions of the Education Law. 



[55] 



COHOES 

Chapter 130, Laws of 191 5 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Cohoes 

ARTICLE XIII 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Section 200 Board of education 

201 Meetings of the board ; quorum ; custody of school libraries 

202 President of board 

203 Clerk; appointment of and duties 

204 Superintendent of schools 

205 Eligibility and removal of superintendent 

206 Powers of board 

207 Powers and duties of superintendent , 

208 Annual estimate 

209 Textbooks and stationery 

210 Annual appropriation 

211 Additional powers of board 

212 Title of schoolhouses 

213 Common council may sell school property 

214 Ordinances for protection of property 

215 Annual report to common council 

216 Deposit and disbursement of moneys 

217 Nonresident pupils 

218 Annual visitation of schools 

219 Raising of money for extraordinary or special purposes 

220 Contracts for work and material 

221 Organization of teachers retirement fund 

222 Creation of fund 

223 Collection of assessments 

224 Treasurer of fund 

225 Retirement of teachers 

226 Annuities 

227 Return of money in case of dismissal 

228 Continuation of board of trustees now in office 

229 Terms of present appointive officers of board of education to continue 

Section 200 Board of education. The pubhc schools of the city of Cohoes 
shall be under the management and control of a board of education which shaU 
be styled " board of education of the city of Cohoes " and be composed of five 
school commissioners, who shall be a body corporate in relation to all the powers 
and duties conferred upon them by this article and who shall serve without 
compensation. The commissioners now in office shall continue therein until the 
expiration of their respective terms to which they have been appointed and said 
commissioners shall constitute said board of education and not more than three 

[56] 



EDUCATION CODE 57 

of them shall belong to the same political party. Within ten days prior to the 
expiration of each term the mayor for the time being shall appoint the successors 
of each of said school commissioners and the term of all such school commis- 
sioners so appointed shall be five years from the ist day of January following. 
In case of the death, resignation or removal of any commissioner during his 
term of office, the mayor then in office shall within ten days thereafter appoint a 
successor to such commissioner for the remainder of the unexpired term. Any 
member of said board of education may be removed from office for cause by the 
mayor of said city upon the complaint of any taxpayer or person aggrieved by 
his official misconduct, provided, always, that said member shall be served with 
a copy of the charges preferred against him and notice of the trial, not less 
than twenty days previous to the day fixed for the hearing of the matter, by 
leaving such copy and notice with him personally or at his residence in the city, 
or by sending the same to his address by mail: The accused member shall have 
the privilege of being represented, at his own expense, by counsel. The corpora- 
tion counsel shall appear for the prosecution, at the request of the mayor. 

§ 20I Meetings of the board; quorum; custody of school libraries. The 
members of said board shall hold an annual meeting on the second secular day 
in January in each year and shall then organize their body. The board shall 
also meet for the transaction of business as often as once in each month and 
may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings may be called, as often as 
necessary, by the president to be appointed by said board as hereinafter provided, 
or, in his absence or inability to act, by any two members of the board, by 
causing a written or printed notice signed by the president or by the members 
calling the same, as the case may be, to be served personally on each member, 
or left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour 
of such special meeting. Such notice shall specify the object of such special 
meeting, the action of which shall be limited to the object so specified. The 
said board shall hold its meetings in the rooms in the city hall assigned to its 
use by the authorities having the legal custody thereof. Except as otherwise 
provided, three of the members of said board shall constitute a quorum for the 
transaction of business, and a majority of the members present shall be sufficient 
to carry any measure or decide any question before them, except in case of any 
resolution or contract appropriating money or involving the appropriation O'f 
money for any purpose, and in case of the election of any officer of the board, 
the appointment of a superintendent of schools, a clerk of the board, or of a 
change of textbooks, when it shall require in each case the affirmative vote of at 
least three members. Said board of education shall have the custody of the 
school libraries in said city and all provisions of law, now or hereafter in force, 
relative to school district libraries, shall apply to said board in the same manner 
as if its members were trustees of a school district comprising said city. The 
books of the common school library in said city shall remain subject to the control 
of said board which shall make, subject to the provisions of law, all necessary 
regulations respecting the management and use thereof. 

§ 202 President of board. At the annual meeting in January in each year, 



58 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and as often as death, resignation or inability to act, shall render necessary, 
they shall elect one of their number president of said board, who shall hold 
office for one year and until his successor shall be elected, and whenever he 
shall be absent,- a president pro tempore may be appointed. He shall preside 
at all meetings, exercise all powers usual to such office and be entitled to vote as 
other members. 

§ 203 Clerk ; appointment of and duties. The board shall appoint a suitable 
person as clerk of the board. A certificate of such appointment, under the hand 
of the president, shall be forthwith filed with the city clerk. The clerk so 
appointed shall hold his office at the pleasure of the board, and shall also be 
librarian of the library in charge of said board ; and, as such clerk and librarian, 
shall perform all the duties which are, or may be, required by the Education 
Law and board of education. As librarian he shall be present at the school or 
city library every day in the year, Sundays and holidays excepted, at such times 
and such hours, not less than six in each day, as the board of education may 
prescribe. As clerk of the board of education, he shall keep a record of. the 
proceedings of the board and shall prepare the same for publication. The said 
record, or a transcript thereof certified by the president and clerk, shall be 
received in all courts of justice as evidence of the facts therein set forth; and 
such records and all books of account, vouchers and papers of said board shall 
be at all times subject to the inspection of the members of said board or of the 
common council of the city of Cohoes, or any committee thereof or the mayor. 
As clerk he shall make out and submit to the board, at its stated meetings in 
each month, a tabulated abstract of the reports of the teachers for the preceding 
month. Under the supervision and direction of the superintendent of schools, he 
shall keep the accounts of the board in such manner as shall show, at any time, 
the exact state of such accounts, the balance to the credit of each fund, the 
expenses of each school and the cost of maintaining the schools in each building, 
showing the amount paid for teachers' wages, for general contingent expenses, 
including the cost of heating, repairing, supplies, and also the amount paid out 
for permanent improvements, specifying the place where such improvements have 
been made. He shall act as clerk of the several committees of the board, when 
requested by the chairman of any such committee, and shall perform all other 
duties required by said board. Said clerk and librarian shall receive for all his 
services such annual salary as the board of education may determine. 

§ 204 Superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools now in 
office shall continue therein until the expiration of his respective term and in 
the month of June in the year 191 7, and in the same month of each fourth year 
thereafter, said board shall appoint a superintendent of schools of said city 
whose term of office shall commence on the ist day of July in the year of his 
appointment, and shall continue until the ist day of July in the fourth year 
thereafter, and until the appointment and qualification of his successor. In 
case of a vacancy in the said office of superintendent of schools, the same shall 
be filled by appointment, in the same manner, within one month after its occur- 
rence, of a superintendent for the unexpired term, who shall enter upon his 



EDUCATION CODE 59 

duties forthwith. The superintendent of schools shall receive a salary not to 
exceed two thousand dollars annually, payable monthly out of the moneys or 
funds apportioned to said board of education, legally appHcable thereto. Before 
any appointment of a superintendent of schools shall take effect for any purpose. 
a certificate in writing of such appointment, signed by a majority of the members 
of the board of education, then legally in office, shall be made and filed in the 
office of the clerk of the city of Coboes, and the superintendent appointed shall 
duly take and file in the office of said clerk the constitutional oath of office. 

§ 205 Eligibility and removal of superintendent. No person shall be ehgible 
for appointment to the office of superintendent of schools of said city unless, 
within fifteen years immediately preceding his appointment, he shall have had at 
least five years' experience as teacher, either in the free common schools of the 
State of New York, or elsewhere in free common schools of equal grade and 
requirements, or has acted as superintendent, or principal of such schools, or 
taught for a like period in a college ; nor imless of mature age, of good mental and 
bodily health and of unblemished character and reputation. No person elected 
superintendent of schools of the city of Coboes shall be removed from his office 
except for cause, upon written charges and specifications thereof, served upon 
him, and after due trial before the said board of education, and conviction. On 
such trial counsel shall be allowed such superintendent without expense to the city 
of Cohoes, and the corporation counsel shall attend and act for the said board, if 
desired. It shall be necessary that three in number of the members of the 
board of education of the city of Cohoes, then duly and legally in office, shall 
concur in voting for the removal of said superintendent before removal can be 
had, and after such trial and conviction. 

§ 206 Power of board. The said board of education shall have power, and 
it shall be its duty, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, 
to fix and determine the different grades of study which shall be taught in the 
various departments of the several schools under its charge, and upon the like 
recommendation, to change the same whenever so to do will promote the best 
interests of the schools; and also to adopt such rules and regulations for the 
administration and government of the schools, and for the admission of pupils 
to the various departments therein, as it shah determine, with authority at any 
time to alter and amend the same as it may deem advisable. 

§ 207 Powers and duties of superintendent. Said superintendent of schools 
shall have exclusive charge of all the teachers employed in the common schools 
of the city of Cohoes, and shall have exclusive power and authority to select, 
nominate, dismiss, transfer, discharge, suspend, fine, grade, regrade and control 
all of said teachers, and, in his discretion, do any and all such matters and 
things in and about the force and personnel of the teachers in the common schools 
of said city as, in his judgment, will tend to improve the efficiency of said schools 
and the teachers employed therein, and as will be for the benefit and welfare of 
the pupils in attendance at such schools. It shall be the duty of said superin- 
tendent, however, in so far as is practicable, in his selection and nomination of 
teachers, to select and nominate the same solely with regard to. and upon, 



6o THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

individual merit, and all other things being equal, to give preference, in such 
selection and nomination, to citizens of the city of Cohoes. Only such number 
of teachers as may be fixed and determined by the board of education shall be 
legally selected or nominated by said superintendent. Only such teachers as are 
qualified under the rules and regulations prescribed and contained in the Educa- 
tion Law of the State of New York, or prescribed by the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction of said State, for governing the examination and licensing and 
qualification of teachers, shall hereafter be eligible to selection, nomination and 
employment in the common schools of the city of Cohoes ; provided, however, 
that any teacher now employed in the public schools of said city shall be eligible 
for such appointment and employment, and the superintendent shall prepare and 
at all times keep a list of all persons so as above eligible to selection, nomination 
and employment, and selection and nomination shall be made by him from the 
names upon said list; and the person or persons selected and nominated shall 
forthwith be by said board of education employed as a teacher or teachers in the 
common schools of said city. Should said board of education fail, neglect or 
refuse to employ the teacher or teachers so selected and nominated by said super- 
intendent, for the space of ten days after said selection and nomination, in writing, 
shall be filed with said board, then and in that event, and on the expiration of 
said period of ten days, such written selection and nomination shall, in all things 
and to all intents and purposes, be equivalent to the employment by the said 
board of education of such teacher or teachers so selected and nominated. All 
selections and nominations to and for employment as aforesaid, hereafter made 
by said superintendent to the board of education, and employment thereunder, 
shall, in the first instance, be made for the term of not exceeding one year, and 
if, at the end of such term, it is found by said superintendent that any teacher or 
teachers thus nominated, selected or employed, has answered all necessary re- 
quirements respecting efficiency and capabihty, to his satisfaction, then said 
superintendent may reselect and renominate said teacher or teachers for em- 
ployment by the board of education. Thereafter such teacher or teachers shall 
serve during good behavior and shall be removable only for cause, after a hearing 
by said board of education, and by the affirmative votes of a majority of said 
board. The provisions of this section shah apply to all teachers heretofore ap- 
pointed and now in the employ of the said board of education. The present 
system of text or school books, now in use in the common schools of the city of 
Cohoes, shall not be changed or new text or school books introduced, except Uipon 
the recommendation and consent of the superintendent of schools of said city. 

§ 208 Annual estimate. The said board of education shall annually, on or 
before the ist day of December, submit to the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment of said city an itemized estimate and requisition of and for the several 
amounts required by it for the various matters, funds and purposes, as herein 
provided, connected with the maintenance of the common schools of said city. 
Such estimate shall be prepared with the aid of the superintendent of schools. 
Said board of estimate and apportionment shall consider such estimate and re- 
quisition, and shall approve and allow the same, and include it in its annual 



EDUCATION CODE 6 1 

estimate to be submitted to the common council. But said board of estimate 
and apportionment or said common council shall have no power to limit said 
board of education, in any year, to less, for the maintenance of the common 
schools, than the sum stated in its itemized estimate and requisition. 

§ 209 Textbooks and stationery. The said board shall have power at all 
times, upon recommendation of the superintendent of schools, to determine, sub- 
ject to the provisions of the law relative to changes of textbooks in schools, the 
textbooks which shall be used in the several departments of the public schools, 
and which shall be uniform, as near as may be, in those of the same grade; to 
supply the requisite textbooks and stationery for the use of indigent pupils; to 
provide the several schools under its charge with the necessary school apparatus, 
maps, et cetera, the expenses thereof to be defrayed out of the school moneys of 
the city. The tuition of the pupils of the several schools under the charge of the 
board shall be free to all persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years, 
who are residents of said city and entitled to attend the said schools. 

§ 210 Annual appropriation. The said board shall apportion, according to the 
various items, matters and purposes mentioned in its said estimate and requisition, 
the amount to which it shall be entitled to the credit of the funds as stated in 
said estimate and give notice, in writing, to the comptroller and treasurer of such 
apportionment. No moneys shall, upon any pretext whatever, be diverted from 
one fund to another, after the said apportionment has been made, provided, how- 
ever, that the comptroller and treasurer, by joint consent thereto, in writing, may 
transfer any available surplus from any one of said funds to another, upon 
request of the board of education, by resolution duly passed, showing, to the 
satisfaction of the comptroller and treasurer, the necessity of such transfer. All 
warrants drawn on said moneys shall specify the respective funds from which 
the same are payable. All moneys apportioned and set aside for the use of 
common schools shall be placed to the credit of the funds as stated in the last 
annual estimate and requisition. 

§ 211 Additional powers of board. The said board of education shall have 
power, and it shall be its duty 

1 To establish and organize such and so many schools, including the common 
schools now existing therein, as it shall deem requisite or expedient and to alter or 
discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase sites for and to build or to lease or contract for the occupation 
and use of schoolhouses or rooms, and to improve the same as it shall deem proper. 

•3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances as it may deem 
advisable; but no such alterations, improvements or repairs shall be upon any 
building, outhouse or appurtenances, unless the same shall be owned by the city 
of Cohoes, or duly leased by the said board of education for a term of not less 
than three years. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for 
indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to defray their ordinary contingent 
expenses 



62 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

5 To have the custody and safe-keeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, books 
and furniture, and to see that the ordinances of the said board in relation thereto 
be observed. 

6 To contract with, Hcense and employ all teachers in said schools and to 
remove them. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and pro- 
vided by law for the support of schools in said city -so far as the same shall be 
sufficient; and the residue thereof from the moneys authorized to be raised for 
that purpose by the provisions of this act. 

8 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of said board, includiog the 
annual salaries of the clerk and the superintendent of the schools, and the expenses 
of said superintendent of schools and any principal or teacher of such schools 
while attending a convention when the same is authorized by said board. 

9 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of 
the public schools in said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and 
repeal as it deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, govern- 
ment and instruction; for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one 
school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good order, prosperity 
and public utility. 

10 Whenever, in the opinion of the said board, it may be advisable to sell any 
of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or hereafter 
belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

§ 212 Title of schoolhouses. The title of the schooUiouses, sites, lots, furni- 
ture, books, apparatus and appurtenances, and all other school property in this 
article mentioned shall be vested in the city of Cohoes, and the same while used 
or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of 
any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever ; 
and the said city, in its corporate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and disp«l>se 
of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, 
for the use of the public schools of the said city, whether the same shall be 
transferred in terms to said city by its proper style or any other designation, or 
to any person or persons or body for the use of said schools. 

§ 213 Common council may sell school property. The common council of 
said city may, upon the recommendation of the board of education, sell any of the 
schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any other school property now or hereafter belonging 
to said city, upon such terms as the said board of education may deem reason- 
able. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, 
and shall be by the said board of education again expended in the construction, 
repairs or improvements of schoolhouses, public libraries, lots, sites or school 
furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 214 Ordinances for protection of property. The said board of education 
shall have the power, and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and regula- 
tions as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safe-keeping, care and 
preservation of the schoolhouses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, and 
all necessary property belonging to or connected with the schools in said city 



EDUCATION CODE 63 

and to prevent wilful interruptions or disturbance of the sessions thereof ; and 
to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions 
and limitations contained in the existing laws relative to said city, and all such 
penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for the violation 
of the city ordinances are by law collected, and when collected shall be paid to 
the treasurer of the said city and be subject to the order of the board of education 
in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this 
article. 

§ 215 Annual report to common council. It shall be the duty of the president 
of the board of education within thirty days after the close of the fiscal year to 
make a report to the common council showing: 

1 An estimate of the number of children between the ages of five and twenty- 
one years residing in said city on the 30th day of June next preceding said 
report; the number of scholars between the ages of five and twenty-one years 
residing in said city, who have attended the free schools therein during the 
preceding year, and the number attending each school, including the evening 
schools. 

2 The number of scholars not residing in said city but who have attended the 
common schools therein during the same time. 

3 The amount of public moneys received by the treasurer applicable to teachers' 
wages, and the amount applicable to school libraries. 

4 The amount of moneys appropriated or set apart by the common council for 
the use of said schools as required by the provisions of this article, and the 
portions thereof appropriated to the respective funds. 

5 The moneys received from the sale of city property. 

6 All other sums received by the treasurer and appropriated to the purposes of 
the common schools. 

7 The manner and purposes for which such sums of money shall have been 
expended, specifying the amount paid under each head of expenditure and the 
amount remaining unexpended, if any, in each fund respectively. 

§ 216 Deposit and disbursement of moneys. All moneys raised by virtue 
of this article which the board of education is authorized to expend, shall be 
deposited with the treasurer of the city to the credit of the respective funds under 
the control of the board of education as provided by law and shall be drawn out 
in pursuance of a resolution of said board and audited by the comptroller as 
provided in this act for the payment of other claims against the city of Cohoes. 
Said board of education, in all its expenditures and contracts, shall have reference 
to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to its order for any specific 
object during the then current year, and shall not exceed the amount so provided. 
In case any debt shall be incurred, or contract made by said board of education, 
or any members thereof, which shall require the expenditure of a greater sum 
than shall have been provided or appropriated for the use of the public schools, 
the city shall not be liable for the same, but the members of the board of educa- 
tion voting therefor, or either of them, shall be personally liable therefor to the 
party entitled to payment. 



64 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 217 Nonresident pupils. The said board shall have power to allow the 
children of persons not residents within the city to attend any of the schools of 
said city, under the care and control of said board upon such terms as the board 
shall by resolution prescribe. 

§ 218 Annual visitation of schools. It shall be the duty of each school com- 
missioner to visit all the public schools under the direction of the board, at least 
once in each year, and the said board shall also provide that each of said schools 
shall be ^ isited by a committee of three or more members of the board at least 
twice in each year. 

§ 219 Raising of money for extraordinary or special purposes. It shall be 
the duty of the common council, upon the recommendation of the board of 
education, to take all necessary proceedings in the manner provided by this act, 
for the raising of money for extraordinary or special purposes, to raise money to 
build or purchase schoolhouses or public libraries and to purchase and improve 
lots or sites therefor. The money so raised, in case it shall be voted by the 
taxpayers, as provided by this act, shall be paid to and kept by the treasurer of 
the city distinct from other money, and shall be controlled and appropriated by 
the board of education exclusively to the object or objects for which it shall be 
raised ; and no such money shall be appropriated or expended except by resolution 
of said board. 

§ 220 Contracts for work and material. Every contract for work, materials 
and supphes, or either of them, to be performed or furnished for the benefit and' 
use of said board of education, where the value of such work, materials and 
supplies, or either of them, shall exceed, in any contract, the sum of one hundred 
dollars, shall be awarded by said board to the lowest bidder therefor who shall 
provide satisfactory security for the faithful performance of his duty under such 
contract. Whenever it shall be necessary for said board of education to receive 
bids under the provisions of this section, it shall give reasonable public notice, 
stating the nature of the work, materials and supplies, or either of them required, 
and specifying the time and place at which such bids will be received by it and 
the security required, which shall accompany each bid, but said board of educa- 
tion shall reserve the right to reject any and all bids presented pursuant to this 
section, when public interest so requires. This section shall not apply to contracts 
for services of teachers or of the superintendent or clerk of said board of 
education. 

§ 221 Organization of teachers retirement fund. The president of the board 
of education, the mayor and five teachers of the public schools of the city of 
Cohoes, of which teachers two shall be school principals, shall constitute a board 
of trustees who shall have the general care and management of the public school 
teachers retirement fund created by chapter 332 of the Laws of 1908. In the 
month of June following the passage of this act, and in the same month in each 
year thereafter, a meeting of all teachers, supervisors, superintendents and 
principals of the public schools of the city of Cohoes shall be called in said city 
by the superintendent of schools of the city of Cohoes, at which time and place 
two school principals and three teachers, then in active service, shall be chosen by 



EDUCATION CODE 65 

the assembled teachers, supervisors, superintendents and principals, to serve for 
a term of one year upon the board of trustees hereinbefore mentioned. The 
said board of trustees is empowered to make payment from said fund of the 
annuities granted in pursuance of this act; to take all necessary action in the 
premises and to make such by-laws, rules and regulations as may be necessary 
or proper; and to provide for the administration and investment of said fund 
as it may deem best, except that no part of said fund shall be invested in any 
maimer otherwise than as the savings banks of the State are permitted by 
law to invest their funds. All vacancies occurring otherwise than by expiration 
of term in the office of either or any of the five members of the said board of 
trustees chosen from the teachers shall be filled until the end of the official year 
by the appointment of the said board of trustees. In case any trustee chosen 
or appointed as aforesaid shall cease to be such teacher or principal, such trustee- 
ship shall at once become vacant. 

§ 222 Creation of fund. The public school teachers retirement fund shall con- 
sist of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom to wit : 

a A sum of money equal to three per centum of the amount appropriated each 
year for the salaries of superintendents, supervisors, principals and teachers em- 
ployed in the public schools of the city of Cohoes. Said sum shall be taken from 
the excise moneys to which the city of Cohoes may annually be entitled by virtue 
of the provisions of the liquor tax law of the State of New York, or from any 
other source that the common council may direct. Said sum shall be paid into 
the said pension fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of the 
said city. 

b One per centum of the respective salaries paid to the superintendents, super- 
visors, principals and teachers employed in the public schools in said city regularly ; 
except that the amount deducted from any one salary shall not exceed ten dollars 
in any one year. 

c All forfeitures and deductions of or from the salary of any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher employed in the pubHc schools of said city for 
an absence from duty for any excuse ; or in the case of the employment of a sub- 
stitute, the excess of the salary of the regular teacher, principal, supervisor or 
superintendent over and above the amount paid to the substitute. Such for- 
feitures, deductions or excesses shall be paid into said pension fund and duly 
credited thereto by the proper officials of said city. 

d All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to said fund, and all 
moneys which shall be obtained from other sources or by other means devised for 
the increase of said fund by said board of trustees or with their consent. 

§ 223 Collection of assessments. The board of education of the city of 
Cohoes in auditing the accounts for salaries of the superintendents, principals, 
supervisors and teachers hereinbefore mentioned shall deduct from each and 
every account for salary said one per centum from each and every amount pay- 
able in the period covered by the said account, and shall certify the amount of 
said deductions and the names of the persons from whose salaries said deductions 
have been made ; and a warrant for the total amount of the deductions so certified 



66 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

shall be drawn payable to the treasurer who shall retain the same subject to 
the disposal of said board of trustees, as hereinafter provided, 

§ 224 Treasurer of fund. The treasurer of the city of Cohoes shall be the 
custodian of said fund and shall pay out the same only upon warrants signed by 
the president of the board of trustees of said fund and countersigned by such 
other ofifiicers as may be provided by the by-laws of said board of trustees; and 
no payment from said funds shall be made except upon resolution of said board 
passed by the concurrent vote of at least four members. 

§ 225 Retirement of teachers. The superintendent of schools of the said 
city, on the recommendation of said board of trustees, shall have the power to 
retire from service to become an annuitant under this act any supervisor, prin- 
cipal or teacher of the public schools of said city who shall request retirement 
and who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate period 
of thirty years, provided that not less than fifteen years of such service shall 
have been rendered in the public schools which are now or hereafter may be 
located within the boundaries of said city of Cohoes ; or any such supervisor, 
principal or teacher who is mentally or physically incapacitated for the perform- 
ance of duty, and who has been engaged in the work of teaching or supervising 
for a period aggregating twenty years, not less than fifteen of which shall 
have been in the public schools which are now or hereafter may be located within 
the boundaries of the said city. The board of education of the city of Cohoes, 
on the recommendation of said board of trustees, shall have the power to retire 
from service to become an annuitant under this act any superintendent of schools, 
on the same terms and conditions as are, in this section, made to apply to any 
supervisor, principal or teacher. ' Any person retired after twenty years of service, 
but with less than thirty years of service, shall receive an annuity which bears 
the same ratio to the annuity provided for a retirement after thirty years of 
service as the total number of years of service of such person bears to thirty 
years. 

The said superintendent of schools of the city of Cohoes shall have power to 
retire from service to become an annuitant under this act any supervisor, principal 
or teacher who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate 
period of forty years, provided that not less than fifteen of such years' service 
shall have been rendered in the public schools which are now or may hereafter 
be located in the boundaries of the city of Cohoes, and also provided that at the 
time of such retirement the retirement fund shall be adequate to pay the full 
annuity to which such annuitant shall be entitled. The board of education of 
the city of Cohoes shall have the power to retire from service to become an 
annuitant under this act any superintendent of schools on the same terms and 
conditions as are, by this section, made to apply to any supervisor, principal or 
teacher 

§ 226 Annuities. Annuities paid in pursuance of this act shall be one-half 
of the amount of the annual salary of the annuitant at the time of retirement 
from service, except as provided in section 225 of this article, and except that 
no annuity shall be more than five hundred dollars ; but if the moneys at the 



EDUCATION CODE 67 

disposal of the trustees of said fund be found at any time to be inadequate to 
fully carry out the provisions hereinabove mentioned, the trustees then shall dis- 
tribute said moneys pro rata to the persons entitled to participate in said fund, 
and such distribution shall be in full of all annuities then due. 

No person who shall retire or be retired to become an annuitant under this 
article shall be entitled to such annuity unless and until such person shall have 
contributed to the teachers retirement fund in pursuance of subdivision b 
of section 223 of this act, or in cash, or by accumulation of the annuity to which 
such person would otherwise be entitled, or by either or all of such methods, an 
amount equal to at least twenty per centum of his or her annual salary at the 
time of retirement. All annuities provided for by this act shall be payable in 
monthly instalments. 

§ 227 Return of money in case of dismissal. If at any time a superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher shall be dismissed for cause before the time when 
he or she would, under the provisions of this act, be entitled to an annuity, then 
said person shall be paid back, without interest, all the money which may have 
been deducted from his or her salary in pursuance of subdivision b of section 223 
of this act. 

§ 228 Continuation of board of trustees now in office. The board of trustees 
of the public school teachers retirement fund now in office shall continue therein 
until their successors have been appointed, and all of the moneys and funds now 
under the care and management of said board shall continue to be under its 
care and management pursuant to the provisions of this act, and nothing herein 
contained shall in any way prejudice or interfere with the rights of any person 
who has been granted an annuity by said board now in office, and any such 
annuitant shall continue to be entitled to the annuity directed to be paid by 
said board. 

§ 229 Terms of present appointive officers of board of education to con- 
tinue. The terms of the office of the superintendent of schools, the clerk of the 
board of education, and all persons holding either of the positions of truant 
officer or janitor, or employed by the board of education, in either said office 
or employment, when this act takes effect, shall continue under this act and 
subject to its provisions until legally removed and their successor or successors 
have been duly appointed or chosen, and qualified. 

ARTICLE II 

OFFICERS AND ELECTIONS 

§ 5 Officers enumerated. The officers of the city shall be . . . five school 
commissioners, who shall be the members of the board of education, . . . 

§ 7 Appointive officers. There shall be appointed by the mayor . . . 
five school commissioners, who shall be members of the board of education, . . . 

§ 8 Qualifications. Every person elected or appointed to office must be an 
elector of the city, except the superintendent of public schools, commissioner of 
public works, and the city engineer. . . . If an officer ceases to be a resident 
of the city, or if a supervisor or an alderman ceases to be a resident of the ward 



68 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

from which he is elected, his office thereupon shall become vacant. No person 
shall at any time hold more than one office in the city except as provided in this 
act; upon his acceptance of a second office, the first shall become vacant. 

§ II Certificate of appointment. Every appointment to a city office must be 
made by a certificate in writing signed by the appointing officer, or if made by 
a board, by the presiding officer thereof, and filed in the office of the city clerk. 

§ 12 Official oath and undertaking. Before entering upon his duties, any 
officer must take and file with the city clerk the constitutional oath of office, 
except the city clerk shall take and file his oath of office with the mayor. . . . 
§ 13 Restrictions; officers not to be interested in contracts. No person 
shall, at the same time, hold more than one city office. Upon the acceptance by a 
city officer of a second city office the office first held by him shall thereupon become 
vacant. No member of the common council or other officer or employee of the 
city, or person receiving a salary or compensation from funds appropriated by 
the city, shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contract to which the 
city is a party, either as principal, surety or otherwise ; nor shall any such member 
of the common council, city officer or employee or person, or his partner, or any 
agent, servant or employee of such officer, employee or person or of the firm of 
which he is a partner, purchase from or sell to the city, or any officer thereof, 
any real or personal property for the use of the city, or any board or officer 
thereof, nor shall he be interested, directly or indirectly, in any work to be 
performed for, or services rendered to or for it, or in any sale to or from said 
city, or to any officer, board or person in its behalf. Any contract made in 
violation of any of these provisions shall be void. A person shall not be deemed 
to be interested in a contract, purchase or sale made by a corporation with, from 
or to the city solely by reason of the fact that he is a stockholder of such cor- 
poration. The term " city officer " as used herein, however, shall not be deemed 
to include a commissioner of deeds. 

§ 15 Resignations. Resignations of elective officers must be presented to the 
mayor, and of all other officers to the appointing board or officer, and such 
resignations must thereupon be filed in the office of the city clerk. 



§ 98 Temporary loans. In the interval between the beginning of the fiscal 
year and the adoption of the annual estimate the city shall have the power to 
borrow money to the extent required to pay fixed salaries, the principal and 
interest on bonded or funded debts or other loans, the stated compensation of 
officers and employees and indebtedness for work performed or materials fur- 
nished under contract with the board of contract and supply, and such amount 
as shall be certified to it by the board of education to be necessary for the use 
of the common schools of the city. After the adoption of said annual estimate 
it shall have the power to borrow money for the payment of the debts and 
expenses of the city within the amounts appropriated therefor for the fiscal 
year, in anticipation of the receipt of the said taxes and revenues applicable to 
such purposes. The common council may provide for the issue of certificates 



EDUCATION CODE 69 

of indebtedness or revenue bonds, to be signed by the mayor and treasurer and 
countersigned by the comptroller, for such purposes. Such certificates or bonds, 
together with interest thereon to date of maturity, shall be paid out of the moneys 
received on account of taxes and revenues applicable to such purposes. All the 
provisions of this section shall apply to the interval between the fifteenth day of 
November, 1915 and the first day of January, 1916, and the amount borrowed 
for payments made during such period shall be added to the annual estimate for 
the year 1916 and inserted therein as an extraordinary item. 



CORNING 

Chapter 298, Laws of 1859 

An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Corning^ 

Section i The trustees of school district number 9, in the town of Corning, 
county of Steuben, shall constitute a board to be styled the board of education of 
the village of Corning, which shall be a corporate body, with a seal, in relation to 
all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act, and shall be elected 
from time to time as now provided by law. A majority of the board shall con- 
stitute a quorum. The first meeting of said board shall be held on the second 
Wednesday of May, 1859; and the annual meetings of said board, in each year 
thereafter, shall be held on the first Tuesday in October in each year. At the 
first meeting of the board, and annually thereafter, at the annual meeting, they 
shall elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever he shall 
be absent, a president pro tempore may be appointed. The said trustees shall 
receive no compensation for their services, nor shall they be interested, directly 
or indirectly, in any contract for building or for making any improvements or 
repairs provided for by this act. 

§ 2 The said trustees shall meet for the transaction of business as often' as 
once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special meetings 
may be called by the president, or in his absence or inability to act, by any mem- 
ber of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each mem- 
ber of the board, or by causing written or printed notice to be left at his last place 
of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

§ 3 The said trustees shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, who shall hold 
their offices during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be 
fixed by the board. The said secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings 
of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The 
said record, or transcript thereof certified by the secretary, shall be viewed in all 
courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such record, 
and all the books, accounts, vouchers, and papers of said board, shall at all times 
be subject to the inspection of the people of the district. 

§ 4 The trustees aforesaid shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to raise 
from time to time, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in 
said district which shall be liable to taxation, as provided for by law for school 
purposes, as the board of education shall deem to be necessary and proper for 
any and all of the following purposes : 

I To purchase, lease, or improve sites for schoolhouses or sites with buildings 
thereon for the same purpose. 

^ School district no. 9 of the town of Corning includes that part of the city of Corning lying 
south of the Chemung river and is organized under L. 1859, ch. 298, here given, that part of the 
city lying north of the Chemung ri/er is included in school district no. 13 of the town of Com- 
ing and is organized under the general law. 

f70] 



EDUCATION CODE 



71 



2 To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses 
and their outhouses and appurtenances. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture 
and appendages, but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize 
the furnishing with class or textbooks any scholar whose parents or guardians 
shall be able to furnish the same. 

4 To procure fuel, and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, 
including the academical department therein, and the expenses of the school 
library of said district, and the necessary expenses of said board, including the 
salary of the secretary of the board, and the compensation allowed the librarian 
and treasurer. 

5 To pay teachers' wages after the application of public moneys which may 
by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose. 

6 The amount raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not 
be less than twice nor more than six times the amount appropriated to said dis- 
trict, from the common school fund of the State during the previous year, nor 
shall there be raised in any one year for buying sites, or sites with buildings 
thereon, erecting and repairing schoolhouses and the appurtenances, a sum ex- 
ceeding two thousand dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. And 
the board of education are authorized and directed, when necessary, to borrow, 
in anticipation, the amount of taxes so to be raised, collected and levied as afore- 
said, and to give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the board 
of education and under the seal of the district, as security for the repayment of 
the moneys so borrowed. 

§ 5 All moneys required to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and 
all school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said district, whether 
from the school or literature funds, or under the act to establish free schools 
throughout the State, or otherwise, shall be paid to the treasurer of said district, 
who, together with the sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor 
in the same manner as the treasurer of the county of Steuben is for moneys 
which come into his hands, and shall be liable to the same penalties for official 
misconduct. 

§ 6 The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act, to be re- 
ceived by him, upon drafts drawn by the president, and countersigried by the 
secretary of said board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn, except in 
pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made pay- 
able to the person or persons entitled to receive the same. 

§ 7 The said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1 To organize and establish such and so many common schools in said district 
as they may deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same ; 
but nothing in this act contained shall authorize said board of education to sup- 
port or contribute any moneys belonging to said district to the support of any 
parochial or church school in said district. (As amended by L. 1868, ch. 82.) 

2 To purchase and hire schoolrooms or houses, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 



72 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

or sites with buildings thereon, to be used as schoolhouses, and to fence and im- 
prove such sites as they may deem proper. 

3 Upon such lots, and upon such sites owned by said district, to build, enlarge, 
alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances as they may deem ad- 
visable. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, books, 
furniture and appurtenances, and to see that their ordinances in relation thereto 
are observed. 

5 To contract with, hcense and employ all teachers in said schools, and the 
academical department therein, and at their pleasure to remove them. 

6 To pay the wages of the teachers in said schools, out of the moneys appro- 
priated and provided by law for the support of common schools in said district, 
and the wages of the teachers of the academical department out of the moneys 
appropriated to said department, from the income of the literature and United 
States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the residue of the 
wages of the teachers in said schools and academical department, from the 
moneys authorized to be raised for that purpose, by section 4 of this act, by 
tax upon said district. 

7 To defray the contingent expenses of the said common schools and academ- 
ical departments, and the expenses of the school library of said district, and the 
necessary and contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of 
the secretary and treasurer, and librarian. 

8 The said board to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and 
management of the common schools of said district, and from time to time to 
adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regula- 
tions for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of 
pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their 
good order, prosperity and utility; and to have power to establish in said schools 
an academical department, to receive into said schools or academical department 
pupils residing out of said district, and to regulate and establish the tutition fees of 
such nonresident pupils in the several departments of said schools, and in such 
academical department, and to collect such fees in the name of said district. To 
regulate the transfer of scholars from the primary to the academical department, 
to direct what textbooks shall be used in said schools and academical department, 
to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books for indigent pupils, furni- 
ture and appendages, fuel and other necessaries for the schools and academical 
department. 

9 To sell, whenever in their opinion it may be^advisable, any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites and appurtenances, or any of the school property now or 
hereafter belonging to the said district. Such sale shall in no case be made, 
however, unless a petition setting forth the necessity or expediency thereof shall 
first be presented by said board, to the county court of Steuben county, and an 
order authorizing such sales, and specifying the terms and conditions thereof, 
shall be granted by said court. All moneys arising from such sale shall be paid 



EDUCATION CODE 73 

to the treasurer of the district, and all securities taken on account of any such 
sale or sales shall be made payable to him. 

10 To prepare and report to the trustees of the village of Corning, such 
ordinances and regulations as may be necessary and proper, for the protection, 
safekeeping, care and preservation of schoolhouses, lots and sites, and appur- 
tenances, and all the property belonging to the district, and to suggest proper 
penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations. 

11 To make and transmit to the county clerk, or such other officer as may be 
designated by law, a report in writing, bearing date the first day of October, in 
the year of its transmission, and stating: 

1 The number of schoolhouses in said district, and an account and descrip- 
tion of all common schools kept in said district during the preceding year, and 
the time they have been severally taught. 

2 The number of children taught in said schools respectively, and the number 
of children over the age of 4 years, and under the age of 21 years, residing in 
said district on the last day of September in each year. 

3 The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said dis- 
trict during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received from a tax 
on the district, and from other sources. 

4 The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any 
and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause. 

5 The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during 
the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public 
moneys, and with such additional information relating to the common schools 
of the district as may, from time to time, be required from the State Superin- 
tendent of Common Schools. 

§ 8 The board of education shall provide that each school shall be visited by 
a committee of one or more of their number, at least once in each term. 

§ 9 Every academical department to be established as aforesaid, shall be 
under the visitation of the Regents of the University, and shall be subject to its 
course of education, and matters pertaining thereto (but not in reference to the 
buildings or erections in which the same is conducted, unless in case the build- 
ings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the common school de- 
partment), to all the regulations made in regard to academies by the said Re- 
gents; and in such department the qualifications for the entrance of any pupil 
shall be the same as those established by the said Regents, for admission into 
any academy of the State under their supervision; and such academical depart- 
ments shall share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund, and of 
the income of the United States deposit fund, with academies in the State sub- 
ject to the visitation of tTie Regents of the University. 

§ 10 It is hereby provided, that in case the board of education shall deem it 
expedient to erect a building for an academy in said district, they shall submit 
the question to a vote of the taxpayers of the district, at the annual meeting, 
or at a special meeting called for that purpose, specifying the amount to be 



74 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

raised and the manner of raising it, which vote shall be taken by ballot, and if a 
majority of the persons voting shall be in favor of the propositions of the board 
of education, then they shall have power to raise the sum of money voted for 
that purpose, by a tax upon the real and personal property in said district, which 
shall be liable to taxation for town and county charges, in like manner as other 
taxes are raised in said district; and the board of education are authorized and 
directed, when necessary, to borrow, in anticipation, the amount of taxes to be 
raised, collected and levied as aforesaid, and to give the bonds of the district, 
signed by the president of the board of education, and under the seal of the dis- 
trict, as security for the repayment of the moneys so borrowed. The moneys 
to be raised and paid in annual instalments or otherwise, as the board shall 
deem expedient. 

§ II This act shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying 
within the bounds of district number 9, of the town of Corning; and the office of 
county or district superintendent of common schools, so far as is applicable to 
the said district, is hereby abolished. 

§ 12 There shall be six trustees in said school district number 9, who shall 
be divided into three several classes, the first class to hold until one, the second 
until two, and the third until three years, from the second Tuesday of October 
last past; and after the first election of trustees under this amended act two 
trustees shall be elected, in the manner now provided by law, at the annual meet- 
ing of said district in each year, and shall hold their office for the term of three 
years each. (As added by L. 1868, ch. 82.) 

§ 13 There shall be a special school meeting held at the schoolhouse in said 
district, on the first Tuesday of May next, at half past seven o'clock p. m., of 
that day, to elect the three additional trustees required by this act, and the clerk 
of said district shall give the same notice of said special meeting now required 
by law for an annual meeting, and at said special meeting the electors of said 
district shall elect three trustees, for one, two and three years respectively, from 
the second Tuesday of October last past, and shall designate by their votes for 
which term each is elected; and said trustees so elected, together with the trus- 
tees of said district now in office and their successors shall constitute the board 
of education of the village of Corning. {As added by L. 1868, ch. 82 and 
amended by L. 1868, ch. 312.) 

§ 14 This act shall take effect immediately, and all acts and parts of acts in- 
consistent with the provisions of this act, are hereby repealed. (As amended by 
L. 1868, ch. 82.) 



CORTLAND 

Chapter i6o, Laws of 1900 

An act to incorporate the city of Cortland 

TITLE IX 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 150 City, permanent school district 

151 Board of education 

152 District board continued a city board; succession of property and obligations 

153 Appointment of members of the board of education and organization of board 

154 Superintendent of schools 

155 General powers and duties of president 

156 Clerk and his general duties 

157 General powers of the board of education 

158 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools 

159 Payment of funds to chamberlain 

160 Powers of board of education to purchase sites or addition to any site or 

erect or enlarge any school building 
l6r Annual report of board of education 

162 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State moneys 

163 Common council shall pass ordinance for protection of school property 

164 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any member of board of education 

165 Report of superintendent of schools 

166 District a union free school district 

Section 150 City, permanent school district. The said city shall form a 
permanent school district and shall not be subject to alteration by the district 
school commissioner of common schools. Such district shall be entitled to all 
the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred upon 
school districts by law or other State authority, and shall, except as otherwise 
provided in this act, be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of inspection 
and superintendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts in cities. 

§ 151 Board of education. The affairs of said school district of the city of 
Cortland shall be managed by a board of nine members to be appointed in the 
manner provided in this act, which board shall be known and designated as the 
" Board of education of the city of Cortland." Said board and its successors 
shall possess all the powers conferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by 
this act, or by any general law of this State relating to school districts in cities, 
or relating to boards of education of such districts, and not inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act. (As amended by L. igoi, ch. 196.) 

§ 152 District board continued as city board; succession to property and 
obhgations. The present members of the board of education of union free school 
district number i of the village of Cortland, New York, shall constitute the 
board of education of said city and shall be members of such board until their 
successors are elected and qualified as provided in this act, and the title to all 

f75l 



76 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

real estate and personal property now belonging to said union free school dis- 
trict is hereby vested in the board of education of the city of Cortland, and all 
moneys and funds belonging to said district shall be paid over and delivered 
to the chamberlain of said city and credited by him to the school fund of said 
city. All the rights, powers, privileges, contracts, obligations and liabilities of 
said union free school district are hereby transferred to, vested in and imposed 
upon said board of education of the city of Cortland as hereby created ; and the 
rights and privileges of all persons that may have arisen or accrued prior to the 
passage of this act shall remain and be enforced by or against the board of edu- 
cation of the city of Cortland, and its successors, in the same manner and with 
like effect as the same might have been enforced by or against the board of 
education of union free school district number i of the village of Cortland, if 
this act had not been passed; subject, however, to the provisions of this act. 

§ 153 Appointment of members of the board of education and organization 
of board. On or before the 15th day of January, 1901, the mayor of said city 
shall appoint nine members of the board of education as follows: Three mem- 
bers for a term of three years, three for a term of two years, and three for a 
term of one year, and in each year thereafter the mayor of said city shall ap- 
point three members of the board of education in place of those whose term of 
office expires. The said members of the board of education shall on the first 
meeting in February in each year elect one of their members as president who 
shall hold said office for the ensuing year. 

§ 154 Superintendent of schools. The said board of education, on the first 
Tuesday of May subsequent to the passage of this act, and in each third year 
thereafter, shall appoint a superintendent of schools for the term of three 
years; such superintendent shall be under the direction of the said board 
of education, which shall prescribe his powers and duties ; he shall be paid from 
the teachers' fund a salary, to be fixed by the board of education. Whenever 
such superintendent shall be appointed the said school district shall be entitled to 
the benefits of the provisions of section 5 of title 2 of article i of chapter 556 
of the Laws of 1894. 

§ 155 General powers and duties of president. The president of the board 
of education shall preside over meetings of the board when present, and per- 
form such executive acts and duties as is required by this act and general laws, 
and such other lawful business as shall be given him or her in charge by said 
board. 

§ 156 Clerk and his qualifications. The superintendent of schools shall be 
clerk of the board of education, and shall act as secretary and keep the minutes 
of said board, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by this 
act and the general school laws of the State, and such other duties as the board 
may prescribe. 

§ 157 General powers of the board of education. Subject to the provisions 
of this act and of the general Consolidated School Laws, the board of education 
of the city of Cortland shall have power and it shall be its duty : 

I To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools as 



EDUCATION CODE TJ 

said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the 
same at its discretion. 

2 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as it may- 
deem advisable. 

3 To purchase, sell or exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages and to defray the necessary expenses attending the 
same. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages and to see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said city in regard thereto, are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

5 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers for the schools of the 
city under such conditions, rules and regulations as may be established by the 
board, provided that such rules and regulations are in accord with the general 
school laws of the State and the rules and regulations established by the Depart- 
ment of Public Instruction of the State. 

6 To pay the salaries of superintendent of schools and teachers out of any 
moneys appropriated or provided by laws for that purpose. 

7 To defray the necessary expenses of the board and district, including the 
wages of janitors and other assistants and employees and incidental expenses. 

8 To expend all moneys, raised by virtue Of this act, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such a manner as 
may be deemed advisable, but only for the purposes for which the same was 
raised. 

9 To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of public in- 
struction of said city, all teachers employed in the schools of the city, in the 
same manner and with like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties, 
and to fix the grade of State license of teachers that shall be accepted as the 
minimum requirement for teachers in said city. 

10 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city 
for school purposes, upon making compensation therefor in the same manner 
and under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon 
the board of public works for opening of streets and highways. 

11 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction and the Regents of the University of this State, 
the entire supervision and management of the schools of said city ; from time to 
time, to adopt, alter, modify, or repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and 
regulations for its organization, government, and instruction for the reception 
of pupils and their transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse to another, for 
their advancement from class to class as their degree of scholarship shall war- 
rant, and generally to promote the good order, efficiency and prosperity of all 
the schools of the city. 

12 To allow the children or persons nonresident within the city to attend 
any of the schools therein under the control of the said board, upon such terms 
as said board may, by resolution, prescribe. 

13 To establish and maintain a city school library and provide suitable rooms 



78 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

for the use of the same; to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of 
the moneys provided by law for the purchase of Hbraries as is conferred upon 
the inhabitants of school districts. 

14 Other than as provided by this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

15 Other than as provided in this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
and all the duties imposed by the general laws of the State applicable to boards 
of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a tran- 
script thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all courts 
or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 158 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools. 
On or before the 15th day of October in each year, the said board of education 
shall prepare a statement of such sums of money as it shall deem necessary dur- 
ing the fiscal year commencing with the ist day of January next ensuing for 
each of the following purposes : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school, if one shall have been established, 
and the payment of the teachers thereof after applying such of the public school 
and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds with the appendages 
and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

5 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay contingent expenses of the 
district, including the salaries of janitors, assistants, employees and incidental 
expenses. 

Before the meeting of the board of education at which the aforesaid statement 
is prepared, the said board of education shall give to the mayor official notice 
thereof and the mayor shall attend said meeting and be accorded the right of 
inquiry into all the items of said statement and all the privileges in said meeting 
of the members of said board, except the privilege of voting. Whenever the 
board of education shall finally have determined on the statement of expenses 
itemized as heretofore indicated, it shall present the same to the mayor or acting 
mayor of the city of Cortland. If the mayor or acting mayor approves such state- 
ment he shall sign it, and immediately file the same with the city clerk ; if he does 
not approve any item therein he shall within five days return the statement with 
his objection indorsed thereon or annexed thereto to the president of the board 
of education. Said board shall then proceed to reconsider such statement, and 
if two-thirds of the members then in office agree to sustain the statement as made, 
it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall be immediately 
filed with city clerk. If two-thirds of the members of said board do not agree 
to sustain the statement as made, it shall be modified so as to conform to the 
views expressed by the mayor in his objection and he shall then sign it and file 
it with the city clerk. But if he does not approve any item thereof he shall, 



EDUCATION CODE 79 

within twenty-four hours, return the same with his objections as before. The 
board of education shall continue to present statements as aforesaid until the 
mayor's approval is obtained or until two-thirds of the members of said board 
agree to pass the same over his objections and said statement when thus ap- 
proved or passed shall be filed with the city clerk. If the mayor or acting mayor 
fails to sign a statement of moneys required as herein provided or fails to re- 
turn within five days after its submission, said statement with his objections 
thereto, to the board of education, said statement shall be filed with the city clerk 
m the same manner as if it had been approved. When such statement is filed 
with the city clerk, the common council of said city shall include in the annual 
tax and assessment roll for that year the amount specified in said statement, pro- 
vided said amount shall not exceed one-third of i per centum of the total as- 
sessed valuation of all the property within the city as appears by the last pre- 
ceding assessment roll thereof. In case said amount exceeds the limitation above 
specified it may be included in the annual tax and assessment roll for that year, 
by resolution of the common council passed by a two-thirds vote of all the mem- 
bers thereof, otherwise the entire statement shall be returned to the board of 
education, and it shall thereupon be the duty of said board to prepare a new 
statement in the same manner as the former, but the total amount of which 
shall not exceed the limitation of one-third of i per centum o£ the total assessed 
valuation of all the property within the city as appears by the last preceding as- 
sessment roll. The amount specified in said statement included in the annual 
tax and assessment roll of the city shall be collected by the city chamberlain, who 
shall credit the same to the general school fund of the board of education. (As 
amended by L. ipoi, ch. iq6.) 

§ 159 Payment of funds to chamberlain. All public moneys or public funds 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said school district number i of the vil- 
lage of Cortland, shall be paid to the chamberlain of said city, who shall keep 
the same separate from the general funds of the city and shall credit to the 
school fund the moneys or property belonging thereto. The board of education 
shall disburse all the school funds of said district by orders upon the chamber- 
lain signed by the president, said orders shall be numbered consecutively and 
shall specify the purpose for which they are drawn and the person to whom 
payable. Upon request from said board, the chamberlain shall certify, from 
time to time, the balance remaining to be collected by or paid to the city chamber- 
lain for school purposes; it shall not be lawful for said chamberlain to apply 
such moneys or any part thereof, to any other purpose or object. 

§ 160 Powers of board of education to purchase sites or addition to any site 
or enlarge any school building. Whenever the board of education shall resolve 
by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members that it is necessary to pur- 
chase a site or addition to any site, or erect any school building or enlarge any 
school building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution the ward within 
which such site is to be purchased or building erected or enlarged and the partic- 
ular sum required for each separately. The board of education shall then deliver 
a certified copy of such resolution to the mayor who shall, within thirty days of 



8o THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the receipt of said resolution, call a special election of the electors of said city to 
vote for or against such appropriations as the proposed expenditures will impose. 
Said election shall be conducted and the result declared and certified pursuant to 
the provisions and manner prescribed for conducting special elections provided 
elsewhere in this act. In case three-fifths or 60 per centum or more of the votes 
cast be in favor of any said appropriations, the common council shall borrow 
upon the faith and credit of said city, the . aggregate of the items having such 
majority, or any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be pro- 
vided for according to law. The common council shall issue bonds or other evi- 
dence of indebtedness, in such forms as it may prescribe at an annual rate of 
interest not exceeding 4 per centum, and payable at such times and in such 
amounts as the common council shall determine. Said bonds or any part thereof 
may be sold by the common council in such a manner as it may deem best, but at 
not less than the par value thereof. The board of education, after completing the 
work or other objects for which said money may have been raised, may apply 
any unexpended balance that may remain to any object authorized or contem- 
plated by this act. (As amended by L. ipoj, ch. 2pj.) 

§ 161 Annual report of board of education. It shall be the duty of the board 
of education, on or before the loth day of January in each year, to make to the 
common council of the city a detailed report of the manner in which it shall have 
expended the money provided for and appropriated to school purposes from any 
source during the last fiscal year of the said board of education ; and such report 
shall be published by the common council in connection with, and as a part of, the 
annual report of the financial transactions of the city, which they are required by 
law to have printed and circulated. Said board of education shall also make re- 
port to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and such reports 
shall be made in the manner and at such times as he may direct. 

§ 162 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State moneys. 
It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State to 
apportion for the use of the said board of education of the city of Cortland, such 
portions of the school, school library and other public money as it shall be enti- 
tled to by its annual report, in the same manner in which such moneys are appor- 
tioned to cities, and the amounts to which it shall be so entitled shall be certified 
to the county treasurer of Cortland county. The said county treasurer of Cort- 
land county shall pay over to the city chamberlain of the city of Cortland, for 
the use of the board of education of said city, such proportion of the school, 
school library and other public money as may be apportioned by law or by the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State to the board of education of 
the city of Cortland for teachers' wages, school library and other school purposes. 

§ 163 Common council shall pass ordinances for protection of school prop- 
erty. The common council of the city of Cortland shall have the power, and it 
shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of education of 
said city shall report necessary for protection, safekeeping, care and preservation 
of the school buildings and other school property of said district, and to impose 
such penilties for the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. 



EDUCATION CODE 8l 

§ 164 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any member of board of 
education. Charges of misconduct or violation or neglect of duty, on the part of 
any member of the board of education, may be presented to said board by any 
member thereof, or by any elector of the city of Cortland, and such charges shall 
be duly examined by such board, at a regular or special meeting, of which the 
accused member shall have at least five days' notice, but at which meeting said 
accused member shall not be entitled to vote. If at such meeting, after hearing 
the evidence on both sides, said board shall deem the charges against the member 
sustained, then all the papers and documents in the case, with a transcript of the 
proceedings of the meeting, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the board of edu- 
cation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and upon his ap- 
proval of the findings of the board, the accused member shall be removed and 
his place deemed vacant. All vacancies in the board of education, occasioned by 
the resignation, refusal to serve, death or removal of any of its members, shall 
be filled for the unexpired term by appointment by the mayor. 

§ 165 Report of superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools of 
the city of Cortland shall confer with, and act under the direction of the board 
of education of said city in the performance of his duties. He shall, subject to 
the direction of said board, have general control and supervision of the public 
schools in said city and of the teachers employed therein and shall on or before 
the 1st day of July in each year, or at such other time or times, as shall be re- 
quired by said board, report in writing to the board of education on the following 
subj ects : 

1 The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of educa- 
tion, their cleanliness and their sanitary condition. 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for each of said schools, 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, their grade of work, 
and their efhciency, with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the number 
thereof. 

s The number of pupils registered at each school, the average daily attendance 
and also the number of~^pupils enrolled in each grade in the several schools. 

6 Such changes in the organization and curriculum of any or all of the schools 
as he may deem advisable. 

7 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the people of Cortland. 

§ 166 District a union free school. The said district shall be deemed and is 
hereby declared to be a union free school district under the laws of this State re- 
lating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond with any 
incorporated city, and the board of education therein, and the corporate author- 
ity of such cities are made applicable to the school district hereby established, and 
to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of the city of 
Cortland. 



82 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Section lo provides for a board of education of 9 members and a superintend- 
ent of schools. Under section 11 such superintendent when chosen need not be 
a resident of the city. Section 13 provides that the members of the board of 
education shall be appointed by the mayor and the superintendent of schools ap- 
pointed by the board of education. Section 15 fixes February first of the year 
in which the mayor is required to appoint members of the board of education as 
the date when their terms shall begin and August ist of the year in which the 
superintendent of schools is appointed as the date on which his term of office 
shall begin. Section 30 requires all city officers to take the prescribed constitu- 
tional oath of office. Section 54 requires the board of education between the 
1st and 15th of November, annually, to estimate in detail their expenses and 
income for the next fiscal year and certify the same to the common council. 



DUNKIRK 

Chapter 34, Laws of 1858 

(^n act to make school district number 9 in the town of Pomfret, a union free 

school district 

Section i All school districts and parts of school districts now or heretofore 
existing within the limits of the town of Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua, 
which lately formed a part of the town of Pomfret, in said county, are hereby 
consolidated into one entire school district, to be known as the Dunkirk union free 
school district. The said district, as herein enlarged and consolidated, shall, 
from and after the passage of this act, be under the direction, control and man- 
agement of the present board of education of said district number i of said town 
of Dunkirk. (As amended by L. 1875, ch. i6p.) 

§ 2 The said district shall be under the direction of a board, to be styled the 
" Board of education," which board shall consist of six members, and be a body 
corporate, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of 
business. Ebenezer R. Thompson, Samuel Hilliard, Joseph Mileham, James H. 
Van Buren, Julien T. Williams and Otis E. Tiffany, shall compose the first board 
of education, and shall hold their offices from one to three years, that is to say : 
two shall go out in each year in the order in which their names stand recorded 
in this section. (Modified by L. igoi, ch. no, which amends section j of this 
act.) 

§ 3 There shall be elected in each year in school district number i of the town 
of Dunkirk, commencing with 1908, two members of the board of education, who 
shall be residents and taxable inhabitants of said district, who shall hold their 
office for four years, and until their successors are elected and quahfy. The said 
election shall take place at the annual town and city election, when all persons 
who by law, are entitled to vote for members of the board of education in said 
district may deposit their ballots, containing the names of two persons designated 
for said office. The election inspectors of the several polling places in said town 
of Dunkirk, shall canvass the votes so cast for members of the board of educa- 
tion in the same manner that votes for town officers are canvassed and make 
their returns of the same to the town board in the same way that returns for 
town officers are returned ; and it shall be the duty of the town board to canvass 
the several returns so received and to certify to the board of education of said 
district the names of the two persons receiving the greatest number of votes for 
members of said board of education, who shall be declared elected as members 
of the board of education by said town board. No person or persons shall be 
permitted to cast a vote for members of said board of education unless they shall 
have been registered as herein provided. It shall be the duty of the several boards 
of registration at the annual registration for the city and town election, to prop- 
erly register in books prepared for that purpose by the clerk of the said town, 

[83] 



84 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

distinct and separate from those used for registering those who intend to vote 
for town and city officers, the names of all those who wish to vote for members 
of said board of education, and who are by law entitled to vote for the same. 
Said inspectors shall also keep a separate poll list of all those who vote for mem- 
bers of said board of education, and shall have the same rights, powers and duties 
in regard to the care of the poll lists and to those voting for members of said 
board of education, as to those voting for town or city officers and the poll lists 
connected therewith. The persons hereafter elected as members of said board 
of education shall enter upon the duties of their office on the first Monday of 
January succeeding their election, which first Monday in January in each year 
after the passage of this act shall be the day for holding the annual meeting of 
said board of education. An officer of such board, if still a member of the board, 
shall hold his office until his successor has been duly elected. Hereafter it shall 
require a majority of all the members constituting such board of education to 
elect its officers. Hereafter the board of education of the said school district 
shall consist of eight members. If the office of a member of such board becomes 
vacant for any cause, except expiration of term, the remaining members of such 
board may, by a majority vote appoint a person to fill such vacancy until the next 
ensuing general election of the town and city of Dunkirk when such vacancy shall 
be filled for the unexpired term of any such member in the same manner as is 
herein provided for the election of members of said board of education. When- 
ever in the opinion of said board of education, it becomes necessary to procure 
a new site and build a new schoolhouse thereon, it shall call a special meeting of 
the taxable inhabitants of the district, at which meeting the said board will state 
the cost of the proposed site and the estimated cost of the school building that is 
proposed to be erected thereon. If said special meeting approves of the recom- 
mendation of the board, said board may purchase the site and build the school- 
house and necessary outbuildings thereon. Said board of education is hereby 
authorized to make such repairs and additions to schoolhouses already built on 
land owned by said school district, as shall m the judgment of said board be 
deemed necessary for the school interests of said school district ; and for the pur- 
pose of paying for such additions or new buildings erected on land owned by 
said district, said board is hereby authorized to issue bonds or certificates of in- 
debtedness, said bonds or certificates not to be sold for less than par or to draw 
more than 4 per centum interest, and made payable at such times as the board 
of education may deem for the best interests of said district. (As amended by 
L. 188^, ch. i6s; L. i8gfj, ch. 526; L. iqoi, ch. no; L. ipo8, ch. 406.) 

§ 4 The annual meeting of said district shall be held on the first Monday of 
October, in each year, at some place in said district, to be designated by the said 
board of education, at least two weeks prior to the time for the holding of such 
meeting. The said board of education shall give public notice of the time and 
place and object of such meeting, by publishing the same in the newspapers 
printed in said town of Dunkirk for the two successive weeks immediately pre- 
ceding the week in which such meeting is to be held, and by posting copies of 



EDUCATION CODE 



8= 



such notice in three public places in said district at least two weeks prior to such 
meeting, which notice shall specify the number of the members of the board of 
education to be elected at such election, and at least two weeks prior to such 
meeting; said board of education shall appoint three suitable persons inspectors 
of such election, whose duties shall be to receive the ballots of the electors of said 
district and deposit the same in a suitable box, to be provided for that purpose, 
and after the polls are closed, and on the same day, to canvass the votes given at 
such election; and immediately after canvassing such votes, to make a statement 
in writing, which shall be signed by them, or a majority of them, thereby certify- 
ing the number of votes cast at such election, which certificate shall also show 
the number of votes cast at such election, for each person voted for as trustee at 
such election. Such certificate shall further show the persons who are, by the 
highest number of votes, elected to the office of members of said board. Said 
inspectors shall immediately thereafter make two copies of such statement and 
certificate, signed by them, or a majority of them, and shall forthwith deliver one 
copy thereof to the town clerk of said town of Dunkirk, and the other copy 
thereof to the secretary of said board of education. Said inspectors of election 
shall be entitled to a reasonable compensation for their services in the premises, 
to be paid by said board of education. The polls of such election shall, in all 
cases, be opened at nine o'clock in the forenoon, and continue open until nine 
o'clock in the evening of the same day, and no longer. The provisions of law 
relating to the elections of State and county officers shall apply to the elections 
under this act, so far as the same are applicable. {As amended by L. i8y$, ch^ 
i6p. This section has been modified and changed by L. ipoi, ch. no, which 
amends section j of this act and by L. i8gp, ch. 40.) 

§ 5 Said board of education shall have power to fill all vacancies occurring in 
their own body for the unexpired term of the person causing such vacancy, and 
whenever any vacancy shall exist in said board of education, a majority of the 
remaining members shall constitute a quorum of said board. (As amended by 
L. 1864, ch. p8. Said section 5 is modified by L. ipoi, ch. no, zvhich amends 
section j of this act. Sections 2 and j of L. 1864, ch. p8, relate to borrowing 
money for the purpose of purchasing a site, building a schoolhouse and making 
repairs to school buildings generally, and approving the acts of said board of edu- 
cation in relation thereto.) 

§ 6 The said board may make all necessary by-laws for their own government ; 
they shall have the entire control and management of all the common schools 
within the said district, and all the property belonging to the same ; they shall have 
and possess within said district all the rights, power and authority of trustees of 
school districts, and shall in all respects be subject to the restriction and control 
of the commissioner of common schools for the district in the same manner as the 
common schools in this State are subject. They shall, at their first meeting, and 
at their first meeting after the annual election in each year, appoint one of their 
number president of said board, who shall preside at the meetings of said board 
when present ; when absent, a president pro tempore shall act in his stead ; they 
shall also appoint at said meeting one of their number secretary, who shall record 



86 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

all the acts and resolutions of the board, also act as clerk of school district; in 
his absence a secretary pro tempore shall be appointed to discharge said duties; 
they shall also appoint a treasurer, collector and librarian of said district, who 
shall hold their offices respectively one year from their appointment, and until 
others are appointed in their places, unless sooner removed by said board. Such 
treasurer and collector shall each, within ten days after notice in writing has been 
received of his appointment, and before entering upon the duties of his office, 
execute and deliver to said board of education a bond in the penalty of twice the 
amount of the estimated amount of the money coming into his hands, and with 
such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful discharge of 
the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within ten days after 
receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and such board, of 
education shall thereupon make an appointment to fill such vacancy. Such treas- 
urer's bond shall be approved by the county clerk, and a copy thereof deposited in 
said county clerk's office. 

§ 7 The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business on 
the first Monday in each month, or on such other day of the week as they shall 
fix upon for the year, and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings may 
be called by the president, or, in his absence or inability to act, by the secretary, 
or any other member of the board, as often as is necessary, by giving personal 
notice to each member of the board or causing a written or printed notice to be 
left at his place of residence, at least twenty-four hours before the hour of said 
meeting; and if any of said board refuses or neglects to attend any three succes- 
sive stated meetings of the board, and if no sufficient cause of his nonattendance 
be shown, the board may declare his office vacant. 

§ 8 No member of the board of education, except the secretary, shall receive 
any pay or compensation for his services, nor shall it be lawful for any member 
of said board to become a contractor for building or making any improvement or 
repairs authorized by this act, or be in any manner directly or indirectly interested, 
either as principal, partner or surety, in any such contract. All contracts made 
in violation of this provision shall be absolutely void, and the persons so violating 
shall forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars, which shall be collected by the board 
for the use of the district. 

§ 9 The said board of education may call special meetings of said district 
whenever they may deem it necessary ; they shall give notice of the same by post- 
ing up a written or printed notice thereof, in at least six public places in said dis- 
trict and by publishing the same in the newspapers published in said district at 
least two weeks previous to the time fixed for such meeting, which notice shall 
state the time and place of such meeting and the purpose for which the same is 
called ; and no business shall be transacted at any such special meeting except that 
stated in the notice calling the same. One week's notice of the annual meeting 
shall be given in said newspapers. {Modified by section j of this act as amended.) 

§ lo The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, and all the 
school property of the school district, shall be vested in said board of education; 
and the said board in its corporate capacity may take, hold and dispose of any 



EDUCATION CODE 8/ 

real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the 
use of common schools in said district; and all the rights, powers and duties here- 
tofore belonging to the trustees of the Dunkirk Academy, and all grants of land 
to said trustees by the Dunkirk Association, or by any members thereof or other- 
wise, are hereby vested in the said board of education; and all the rights, titles 
and interests which the said town of Pomfret or the town or village of Dunkirk 
or the trustees of the said academy may have had or does now have in the plot of 
ground given by the said Dunkirk Association, or anyone belonging thereto, to 
the said trustees in the year 1838, or at any other time, as a donation to endow 
an academy, as laid down on a certain map and filed in the office of the county 
clerk of Chautauqua county on the nth day of July, 1838, and entitled " Map of 
the town of Dunkirk, in Chautauqua county. State of New York, eighteen hun- 
dred thirty-six, the termination of the New York and Erie Railroad," are hereby 
vested in said board of education, whose duties shall be to carry out the object of 
the donors as expressed by them in a resolution adopted by said donors at a meet- 
ing held by them on the 14th day of January, 1838; and the map so filed on the 
nth day of July, 1838, together with the inscriptions and acknowledgments 
thereon by the owner or owners of said land, shall be deemed and construed in 
all courts as a good and sufficient deed of said plot of land to endow an academy 
to the trustees of said academy; and the title of said trustees to the lands so do- 
nated shall not be forfeited from nonacceptance or usage by said trustees during 
the time it has been used as a burial place, and prior to the removal of all the re- 
mains of the dead therefrom, nor from any other causes, and the said board of 
education are hereby authorized to enter at once into the possession of said plot 
of land, and to have all the rights and powers hitherto vested in and possessed by 
the board of trustees of said village relative to the removal of any remains of the 
dead which may be found therein. (As amended by L. 1880, ch. 17.) 

§ II The public schools of said district shall be free to all children residing 
therein ; but the board of education may permit children of persons not residents 
within said district to attend said schools on such terms as they may prescribe, 
and said board shall have power to sue for and recover such prescribed sum. Said 
board shall require one of their number to visit each school in said district at 
least once in each week, to render such assistance to the teachers and advice to 
the pupils as may be necessary. (Modified by Education Law, L. ipop, ch. 21, 
§ ^p5, subd. 6, as amended by L. ipio, ch. 140, and L. 1912, ch. 2y6.) 

§ 12 Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall be 
made to the board of education, and such resignation shall not excuse said officer 
from the discharge of his duties until accepted by said board. (Modified by sec- 
tion 21 of the public officer law.) 

§ 13 Said board of education shall cause an enumeration of the children be- 
tween the ages of 4 and 21 years in said district, and make, once in each year, 
such a report to the school commissioner, at the time and in the manner required 
by law, of trustees of school districts ; and any parent or guardian or housekeeper 
refusing to give his or her own name to the person appointed by said board to 
take such enumeration, and the number of the children between said ages living 



88 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

in his or her family, shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars ; said penalty to be 
sued for and recovered by said board and appropriated to school purposes. 
{Modified by Education Lazv, L. ipop, ch. 21, § 6^0-6^4, ^-S" amended by L. ipio, 
ch. 140.) 

§ 14 The town supervisor shall, upon the written order of the president and 
secretary of said board, pay to the treasurer of said board, out of money in his 
hands belonging to said district, such sums as said order may specify; and all 
moneys to be received shall be paid to the treasurer of said board, who, together 
with his sureties on his official bond, shall be accountable to said board of educa- 
tion. Said treasurer shall not pay out any moneys except by resolution of said 
board, and upon an order drawn by the president, and certified by the secretary 
to be so drawn in pursuance of such resolution. 

§ 15 Said board of education shall have the entire control of the district li- 
brary, and may make such regulations in regard to the purchase and distribution 
of books and management of said library as they shall deem proper. 

§ 16 Said board of education shall have the power and are hereby directed to 
levy and collect by tax, once in each year, upon all the taxable property and in- 
habitants in said district, as the same shall have been last assessed by the town 
assessors of the town in which said district is situated, such sums as said board 
shall estimate to be necessary for the following purposes, viz : 

1 To pay any deficiency in teachers' wages, after paying all the public money 
appropriated for such purpose. 

2 To hire sites, schoolhouses and rooms for the use of said school district when 
necessary. 

3 To alter, repair and improve the schoolhouses belonging to said district and 
their appurtenances. 

4 To insure the schoolhouses and property belonging to said district. 

5 To pay all necessary contingent expenses of said school district and of the 
board of education. 

6 To pay the librarian a salary not to exceed twenty-five dollars per year. 

7 Said board of education is hereby authorized to appoint or elect, at its annual 
meeting, one of its members as secretary thereof, who shall hold said office until 
his successor is duly appointed or elected by a majority of all the members con- 
stituting said board ; also to make such rules and regulations as it deems best for 
the appointment of a librarian and to define the duties thereof; also to appoint 
at any time an assistant secretary of said board, who shall hold said office during 
the pleasure of said board, and who shall perform such duties as the board may 
designate and require in connection with the schools or the board of education or 
with the superintendent of schools. The salaries of said secretary, and assistant 
secretary, including the cost of making the annual tax roll and duties of the libra- 
rian, shall be determined by said board of education. {As amended by L. 188 1, 
ch. 180; L. i8g7, ch. 479; L. 1902, ch. 284; L. 1907, ch. it8.) 

8 Any such sums as shall be authorized by a majority of the taxable inhabit- 
ants at any special meeting of said district, for the purpose specified in section 17 



EDUCATION CODE 89 

of this act; and the board shall add to their warrant for collection of taxes such 
amount as they shall deem proper for fees for collecting, not exceeding 5 per cent 
on the amounts to be collected. Said board shall have power to make all war- 
rants for the collection of taxes to be raised by them, returnable in sixty or ninety 
days, at their discretion, and to renew the same whenever it shall become neces- 
sary; such warrant to be signed by the president and secretary pursuant to reso- 
lution of said board. In case it shall appear that the town assessment roll does 
not include all the taxable property of said district, the property omitted shall be 
assessed by the said board in the same mode required by law and added thereto ; 
and the collector of said school districts shall, in the collection of any tax author- 
ized by this act, proceed in the same manner and have all the powers which col- 
lectors of towns and county taxes now possess. {ModiHed by art. 10 of the city 
charter, L. ipop, ch. 538.) 

§ 17 Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it becomes necessary to procure a 
site and build a schoolhouse, to enlarge those already built, or to raise money for 
any necessary school purpose not enumerated in this act, they shall submit the 
plans, the estimated cost of such building, site and necessary appendages, to the 
taxable inhabitants of said district, at a special meeting called for that purpose, 
and if a majority of such inhabitants present shall vote in favor of the same, the 
said board may proceed to carry the same into effect ; but no site purchased and 
house built after the passage of this act shall exceed in cost jointly the sum of 
three thousand dollars, nor shall any addition to schoolhouses in said district ex- 
ceed said amount; neither shall more than one schoolhouse or addition to any 
schoolhouse in said district be built in any one year ; nor shall any additions be 
made to any schoolhouse in said district the same year in which a new schoolhouse 
is built ; nor shall a greater sum than four hundred dollars be raised in any one 
year for purposes not enumerated in this act by said special meeting. {Modified 
by L. ipoi, ch. no, ivhich amends section 5 of this act.) 

§ 18 Said board of education shall have the power to establish as many pri- 
mary schools in said district as they may deem proper, and to have in all respects 
the superintendency, supervision and management of the public schools in said 
district ; to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and 
regulations for their organization, government and instruction ; for the reception 
of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their 
good order, prosperity and public utility. 

§ 19 Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell or ex- 
change any schoolhouse, lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the district, 
they shall state such object in the notice of an annual or special meeting, and, with 
the consent of a majority of the taxable inhabitants present at such meeting, may 
sell or dispose of such schoolhouses, sites or lots to the best advantage. 

§ 20 Said board of education shall, at each annual meeting, submit a report in 
writing of their doings as such board, and shall state therein the number and con- 
dition of the schools in said district under their charge, and the number of scholars 
attending the same, the studies pursued, the amount of money received from the 



90 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

State and from any other source, the expenditure of the same, and all the particu- 
lars in detail relating to schools in said district, which report may, if the board 
think proper, be printed. 

§ 21 All laws and parts of lav7s inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed 
so far as relates to said Dunkirk Union Free School. (As amended by L. 1815, 
ch. i6p.) 

§ 22 This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 40, Laws of i8gg 

An act to provide for holding the annual tow^n and city election of the town 
and city of Dunkirk at the general election on the first Tuesday after the 
first Monday in November of each year 

Section i The annual election of all town and city officers of the town and 
city of Dunkirk, and of the members of the board of education of the union 
free school district of the town of Dunkirk, shall hereafter be held on the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday of November in each year; and the persons so 
voted for and elected at said annual election, excepting the receiver of taxes, 
shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices on the ist day of January 
succeeding their election, and shall hold said respective offices for the same 
length of time from said ist day of January, as is now provided by law for 
holding said offices. The receiver of taxes shall enter upon the duties of his 
office on the ist day of May succeeding his election, and shall hold his office 
for the same length of time as is now provided by law. All town and city 
officers of said town and city shall hold their respective offices until their suc- 
cessors are duly elected and qualified. 

§ 2 The names of all persons voted for at said annual election for said 
offices shall be printed or written upon the same ballots as those that contain 
the names for candidates for State and county offices, unless the manner of 
their election is other specially provided for by law ; and the canvassing of all 
votes cast at said election, for said officers, shall proceed and be declared in the 
same manner as if cast at the annual town and city elections heretofore held 
in March of each year. All certificates of nomination of city officers shall be 
in duplicate, one of which shall be filed with the city clerk of said city and the 
other with the county clerk at such time as is now required by law for filing 
town nomination with the county clerk. , 

§ 3 This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 295, Laws of 1837 

An act to incorporate the Dunkirk Academy 

Section i Ezra Williams, Ernest Mullett, James Van Buren, George A. 

French, David McDonald, Horace Pemberton, Levy Parsons, Timothy Stillman, 

Walter Smith, William Mellen, Walter Chester and Chas. H. S. Williams, and 

such other persons as may associate with them, are hereby constituted a body 



EDUCATION CODE 9I 

i:orporate, by the name of " The Dunkirk Academy," to be located in the village 
of Dunkirk, in the county of Chautauqua, for the purpose of establishing, main- 
taining a seminary of learning, for the education of youth. 

§ 2 The estate, property and concerns of the said corporation shall be man- 
aged by a board of twelve trustees. 

§ 3 The persons named in the first section of this act shall be the first trustees 
of the said corporation, and shall be divided by lot in three classes ; the term 
of service of the first class shall expire on the second Monday of January next; 
that of the second in one year, and that of the third in two years thereafter. 

§ 4 On the sfecond Monday of January, 1838, and on the second Monday of 
January in each succeeding year, there shall be an election of four trustees, 
who shall hold their offices for three years, and until others shall be elected in 
their places. The election shall be by ballot, and by a plurality of the votes 
of the members present. 

§ 5 The said academy shall participate in the distribution of the literature 
fund, whenever the Regents of the University shall be satisfied that it has 
complied with the requisitions of the law which would entitle it to the same. 

§ 6 The corporation hereby created shall possess the powers and be subject 
to the provisions of the fifteenth and eighteenth chapters of the first part of the 
Revised Statutes, so far as the same are applicable and have not been repealed. 

§ 7 This act shall take effect on the passage thereof. 



ELMIRA 

Chapter 370, Laws of 1895 
An act in relation to the public schools in the city of Elmira 

Section i The territory embraced within the corporate bounds of the city 
of Elmira shall constitute one school district, to be called " the school district of 
the city of Elmira," and the boundaries of said school district and of said city 
shall always coincide; but no change in the boundaries of said city shall take 
effect as respects said school district until the close of the school year in which 
such change is made. In case any extension of the boundaries of said city shall 
divide a school district so as to bring within said boundaries any school lands or 
buildings belonging to such divided district, the trustee or trustees of said district 
residing without such extended boundaries, or if there be no such trustee at 
the time of such extension, then such trustee or trustees as may thereafter be 
elected by the inhabitants of said district residing without said boundaries, and 
the board of education of said city shall, if they can agree, make such regulations, 
arrangements or disposition of, or respecting such school lands or buildings as 
they may deem just and proper, and for that purpose may provide for the 
joint or common use of said lands or buildings; or may sell the same or any 
part thereof and make an equitable division of the proceeds of such sale; or 
the said board or said trustee or trustees may have and retain the exclusive prop- 
erty in and use of said lands or buildings upon making proper compensation to 
the party surrendering its interest therein; and in case the said trustee or trus- 
tees should so hold and use the said lands or buildings, the same shall, for school 
purposes, form and be a part of said school district, and so long as said land or 
buildings are so held or so used, they shall be exempt from all taxation within 
said city. In case said trustee or trustees and said board of education shall fail 
to agree in whole or part upon such regulation, agreements or disposition of 
said lands or buildings, the matters of difference between them respecting the 
same shall be submitted to the school commissioner of Chemung county, who 
shall decide the same subject to appeal upon the matters decided, or any of 
them, to the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the manner prescribed in 
section i of title 14 of chapter 556 of the Laws of 1894, entitled the consolidated 
school law. 

§ 2 The said school district of the city of Elmira shall remain and continue 
separate and distinct for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified. 
The commissioner districts shall continue as at present, subject only to such 
changes as shall be made in making the boundaries of said school district and city 
correspond, and such changes as the board of education of said city may find 
necessary at any time to make, provided that no change shall be made which 
shall reduce the population of a commissioner district to less than 3000 in- 
habitants. 



EDUCATION CODE 93 

§ 3 The present nine school commissioners of the said school district and 
their successors to be chosen as hereinafter provided, are hereby continued as 
heretofore constituted, a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties 
conferred or imposed by law, and styled " The board of education of the city 
of Elmira," and are hereby invested with all the powers and charged with 
all the duties conferred upon them by this act. A majority of commissioners 
shall constitute a quorum. 

§ 4 On the second Tuesday of October 1895, and biennially thereafter, there 
shall be elected in the manner hereinafter provided in each of said commissioner 
districts, the number of which is an odd number, one school commissioner, 
who shall be a resident of such district. On the second Tuesday of October 1896, 
and biennially thereafter, there shall be elected in the manner hereinafter pro- 
vided in each of said commissioner districts, the number of which is an even 
number, one school commissioner, who shall be a resident of such district. 
Each commissioner so elected shall hold his office from the day of his election 
until the second Tuesday, of October of the second year thereafter and until 
his successor be chosen and qualified to act. Each election of a school com- 
missioner herein provided for shall take place and be had at such place or 
places as the board of education of said city shall designate within the district 
electing such commissioner, and the polls therefor and thereat shall be and con- 
tinue open from one o'clock in the afternoon until seven o'clock in the afternoon 
of that day. The said board of education shall cause to be published in a news- 
paper of said city daily for the period of three days last prior to the day of 
such election, notice of such election and the places and hours of holding the 
same. At a meeting of said board of education the president thereof shall 
designate a commissioner or commissioners of such board other than the 
district commissioner of the district electing such commissioner, to preside at 
such election. In case any such designated commissioner shall, on account of 
his sickness or other insurmountable cause, be unable to attend and preside 
at such election, he shall cause notice of such inability, immediately upon the 
occurring thereof, to be given to the president of such board, who shall immedi- 
ately thereupon designate and notify in writing another commissioner of such 
board other than the commissioner of the electing district to preside at such 
election. Such commissioner designated shall attend and preside over such 
election. In case, for any cause, there are at the time of holding an election for 
■school commissioners not enough commissioners other than the commissioner 
of the electing district able to preside at the polls, the president shall appoint 
the superintendent of schools or secretary of the said board of education or 
other person who shall be a resident of said city and a qualified voter at a 
school election thereof but not a resident of the commissioner district within 
which said election shall be held, to preside at one of the polls with the same 
powers as a commissioner, and the said superintendent or secretary or such other 
person so appointed shall preside over such election. In case the person so 
appointed to preside over any such election shall on account of sickness, or 
other insurmountable cause, be unable to attend and preside at such election, 



94 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and he shall not be able to give to the president of such board, the notice above 
required, said person shall forthwith designate and notify in writing some 
other person, who shall be a resident of said city and a qualified voter at a school 
election therein, but not a resident of the commissioner district within which said 
election shall be held, and the person so appointed shall preside over such 
election. Such presiding officer shall, at the opening thereof, designate two per- 
sons who shall be residents of and qualified voters in such commissioner district, 
who shall act as inspectors of such election, and whose duties shall be to have 
at the opening thereof the ballot box provided by the presiding officer wholly 
empty of ballots and papers, to keep a true poll list of the name and residence 
of each person offering to vote and of each person challenged and voting, and 
of each person challenged and not voting thereat, and to aid the presiding officer 
in counting the ballots and ascertaining the result of the election. At any time 
before or during such election each of the candidates may name one elector of 
said district as a watcher at the poll of such election district, and the person or 
persons so named as watchers, and each of them, shall be entitled to be present 
in the room occupied by the inspectors of election and the presiding officer, 
and in a position and place from which he or they may conveniently, fully and 
comfortably watch the reception and deposit of every ballot cast at such election, 
and the full and final canvass of the ballots cast and the signing of the proper 
certificates. In the canvass of the said ballots, upon the demand of a watcher 
therefor, any ballot may be presented to him for inspection, but no ballot shall 
at any time be taken by a watcher from the hands of the inspectors. The 
voting shall be wholly by ballot, which shall be of white book paper, cut three 
inches in width and four inches in length, designated as follows: For school 
commissioner of district number (the number of the electing district 

being inserted in the blank after number), which may be printed or written, 
and the name of the candidate shall be printed or written near the middle of 
the ballot and below the designation. The ballot, when cast, shall be so folded 
that no printing or writing shall be exposed to view. The vote or ballot of any 
person offered at such election shall, upon challenge by any lawful voter thereat, 
be rejected, unless he be sworn as to his qualifications as such voter; and the 
presiding officer shall administer an oath to such person and to any other person 
offering to vote as he may deem advisable, to the effect that he will true answers 
make to such questions as shall be put to him touching his qualifications as a 
voter and his right to vote at such election, and such presiding officer shall 
thereafter examine him as to such qualifications and his right to vote. If he 
shall swear to the necessary qualifications of a voter, his vote shall then be 
received and deposited. If the person sworn and examined intentionally swears 
falsely as to his qualifications as a voter he shall be deemed guilty of perjury 
and shall, on conviction, be punished as now prescribed by law for the crime 
of perjury. The presiding officer shall provide a ballot box for the reception of 
ballots. Each ballot shall, by the person offering the same, be delivered to the 
presiding officer, who shall at once, unless it be challenged or he deem it advisable 
to administer the oath under the provisions hereinbefore made, deposit the 



EDUCATION CODE 95 

same in the ballot box. At the close of the polls at such election the presiding 
officer and the inspectors in each election district shall immediately make a true 
and correct count of the ballots cast within such district, which count shall 
thereupon be publicly declared by said presiding officer, who, with such in- 
spectors, shall make and file with the clerk of the city of Elmira, within 
twenty-four hours next succeeding the close of such election, their certificate 
of the whole number of votes cast thereat, and the number received by each 
candidate, together with the poll list of the election in such district, certified 
by them to be correct and accurate. The person receiving the greater or greatest 
number of votes in each commissioner district shall be duly elected as commis- 
sioner from such district. Every presiding officer or inspector of such election 
who shall intentionally omit, neglect or refuse to do any act required by this sec- 
tion, or who shall intentionally do any act forbidden herein, shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor. The board of education may, if they, at any election of school 
commissioners, deem it necessary, designate more than one polling place in any 
commissioner district and divide the district with respect to such polling place or 
places. No person not a resident of the commissioner district for which an 
election of commissioner shall be held shall be eligible to vote at such election; 
and in case the board of education shall designate more than one polling place in 
any commissioner district and divide the district with respect to such polling place 
or polling places as hereinbefore provided, no persons shall vote except at the 
polling place therein, which shall be within the subdivided district as prescribed 
by said board of education within which subdivided district said person shall re- 
side. (As amended by L. i8p6, ch. 710.) 

§ 5 On the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October, 1895, and 
annually thereafter, on the Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of Octo- 
ber, the common council of said city shall appoint two school commissioners for 
said school district to succeed the two commissioners appointed by the common 
council, whose term of office shall at that time expire. The persons so appointed 
shall hold their office from the time of their appointment, respectively, until the 
Monday next preceding the second Tuesday of October of the second year there- 
after, and until their respective successors be appointed and qualified to act. 
Within ten days after receiving notice of his election or appointment, the person 
so elected or appointed shall take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution 
of the State, and file the same with the clerk of the city. 

§ 6 All vacancies which may occur in said board of education, from any other 
cause than the expiration of their term of office, of the class known as commis- 
sioners at large, or commissioners appointed by the common council of the city of 
Elmira, shall be filled by the common council in the same manner that the original 
appointments are made, and vacancies occurring in like manner in the class known 
as district commissioners shall be filled by said board of education. The commis- 
sioners so appointed shall hold their offices for the unexpired term of those whose 
places they are chosen to fill. Any member of the board of education may resign 
his office by giving five days' previous notice in writing to the mayor of the cit}. 
who may, if he deems the reason sufficient, accept the same. 



C,6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 7 Any member of the board of education may, for neglect of duty, immoral 
conduct or official misconduct, be removed from office by the common council of 
the city, by a vote of two-thirds present at any regularly called meeting thereof; 
but, before final action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against 
said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to 
explain or refute them. 

§ 8 Annually at the first stated meeting of the board of education held after the 
annual election and appointment of school commissioners as hereinbefore pro- 
vided, they shall elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever 
he shall be absent or unable to act, they shall elect a president pro tempore. The 
school commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services. 

§ 9 The board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as often 
as once in each month, and may adjourn for a shorter time. Special meetings 
may be called by the president, or in his absence or inability to act, by any member 
of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice to each member of 
the board, or causing a written or printed notice to be left at his place of residence 
or business, at least twenty-four hours before the hour for such special meeting. 

§ lo The board of education shall appoint a secretary and librarian, who shall 
hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall 
be fixed by said board ; and the same person may hold the office of superintendent, 
secretary and librarian. The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of 
the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The libra- 
rian shall have charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint 
such assistants as may be necessary, from time to time, and such assistants may be 
removed at any time by the board of education. 

§ II The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof, certified by 
the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts 
therein set forth ; and such record, the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the 
said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council 
of the city, or any committee thereof. 

§ 12 The common council of the city of Elmira shall have power, and it shall 
be their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and 
personal estate in said school district, which shall be liable to taxation for town 
or county charges, such sums as may be determined upon, and certified by the 
board of education, to be necessary and proper, for any or all the following pur- 
poses, for the current year : 

1 To purchase, lease, or improve sites for schoolhouses. 

2 To build, purchase, lease, alter and repair schoolhouses, outhouses, and 
appurtenances thereunto belonging. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus. 

4 To procure fuel, and defray the necessary expenses of keeping the school- 
houses in order, exclusive of repairs, including insurance. 

5 To defray the contingent expenses of the public schools, and the district li- 
brary or libraries, including salary of librarian and superintendent. 



EDUCATION CODE 97 

6 To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, including the 
salary of the secretary thereof. 

7 To pay teachers' wages, after the application of the public money appropri- 
ated by law for that purpose. 

8 To pay charges or expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act into 
effect, or to refund loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, or to 
pay such sums as shall be required to fulfill any contract duly made under the 
provisions of this act. 

§ 13 The aforesaid tax to be levied and collected by virtue of this act shall be 
levied and collected in the same manner by the city chamberlain, and at the same 
time that State and county taxes are, and the powers, duties and liabilities of the 
city chamberlain, and his sureties shall be the same in reference to the collection 
of this tax as for city taxes, and his jurisdiction shall extend under this act to all 
territory embraced in the said school district. {As amended by L. ipii, ch. 522.) 

§ 14 The money raised for the purposes of school sites, and the building, re- 
pairing and furnishing of schoolhouses, shall be known as the " the special school 
fund," and all other moneys as the " general school fund," and it shall be the duty 
of the board of education to keep accurate accounts of its receipts and expendi- 
tures, distinguishing between those of a general and those of a special character ; 
and it shall not be lawful to expend any portion of the money raised for the use 
of one of said funds for the purposes of the other of said funds, except by per- 
mission of the common council. 

§ 15 All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all school 
moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said school district, shall be paid 
to the chamberlain of said city, who, together with the sureties upon his official 
bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same manner as for other funds of 
said city, and the common council in fixing the amount of the chamberlain's sure- 
ties, shall include the moneys received by virtue of this act. The said city cham- 
berlain shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct in relation to 
said money as for any similar misconduct in relation to other moneys of said 
city. 

§ 16 All money raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other source, 
for the use of the public schools, shall be deposited with the city chamberlain for 
the safekeeping thereof to the credit of the " board of education " until drawn as 
hereinafter provided for, and the said chamberlain shall keep the account of funds 
thus deposited with him separate and distinct from any other funds which he is or 
may be authorized to receive. 

§ 17 The city chamberlain shall pay out the moneys received by him by virtue 
of this act only upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the sec- 
retary of the board of education, which draft shall not be drawn except in pur- 
suance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made payable to 
the person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon, and shall state on 
what account said draft is drawn. 

§ 18 The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the 
name of the common council of the city of Elmira, upon official bond of the city 
4 



9'8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

chamberlain of said city, for any default, delinquency or official misconduct in 
relation to the collection, safekeeping and payment of any money in this act 
mentioned. 

§ 19 The said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1 To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said " school 
district " as they shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue 
the same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolhouses and rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 
and to fence and improve them. 

3 Upon such lots and sites owned by said city to build, enlarge, alter, improve 
and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and appurtenances as they may deem advis- 
able; and for the purchase of said lots and the building and enlargement of such 
schoolhouses upon obtaining the consent of two-thirds of the common council of 
said city by a vote thereof duly taken and recorded, to issue the bonds of the city 
of Elmira to an amount outstanding at any one time, not exceeding $250,000, 
payable within twenty-five years from the issue thereof, with interest thereon at 
not exceeding 6 per cent, which bonds shall be signed by the mayor of said city 
and the president of said board, and shall have affixed thereto the respective seals, 
attested by the respective clerks of said city and said board, and may have at- 
tached thereto coupons or warrants for the payment of interest, which may be 
made payable semiannually but such bonds shall not be sold for less than par 
value, with accrued interest, from the date thereof. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools, pay the necessary insur- 
ance on buildings and school property, and to defray the contingent expenses of 
the school library. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses and all school prop- 
erty belonging to said school district, and to see that the ordinances of the com- 
mon council in relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools, 
and at their pleasure remove them. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers and the superintendent out of the money 
appropriated and provided by law for the support of common schools in said 
school district, or by this act. 

8 To defray the contingent expenses of the said board of education, the salary 
of the secretary thereof and the librarian. 

9 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of 
the public schools of said district, and from time to time adopt, alter, modify and 
repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, 
government and instruction, or the reception of pupils and their transfer from 
one class to another, or from one school to another, and generally for their good 
order, prosperity and utility. 

10 Whenever in the opinion of the board of education it may be advisable to 
sell any of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now or 
hereafter belonging to the corporation, to report the same to the common council. 



EDUCATION CODE 99 

11 To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regula- 
tions as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of schoolhouses, lots, and ail property belonging to the city, con- 
nected with or appertaining to the schools, and to suggest proper penalties for the 
violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and on or before the day for the 
first regular meeting of the common council in October in each year to determine 
and certify to the common council the sums in their opinion necessary or proper 
to be raised under the twelfth section of this act for the year commencing on the 
I St day of January thereafter specifying the amount required for each of the pur- 
poses therein mentioned. (As amended by L. IQ04, ch. i8p; L. 1910, ch. 464; L. 
ipii, ch. 522.) 

12 From time to time to adopt, amend or repeal such by-laws, rules and regu- 
lations respecting the meetings of said board and the transaction of its affairs as 
may be deemed proper. 

§ 20 Upon the reception of the report of the board of education by the com- 
mon council of the city of Elmira in relation to the amount of money necessary 
for school purposes, as directed to be made in preceding section the common 
council shall proceed to consider the same and approve, increase or diminish any 
or all of said estimates ; provided, however, that the aggregate amount shall not 
fall below a sum sufficient to defray all the necessary expenses for the support of 
the public schools in the school district of Elmira for the succeeding year. After 
having fixed the amount to be expended for each, and all the purposes mentioned 
in the last preceding section, the same shall be certified to the board of education 
who shall, during such fiscal year, limit the expenditures for such purpose, so 
that the same shall not exceed the appropriation; and the common council shall 
also certify to the board of supervisors on or before the 15th day of November in 
each year the amount to be expended as aforesaid ; and the board of supervisors 
shall place the same so certified in the county tax levy and shall levy and assess 
the amounts so certified in the same manner as moneys raised for the health and 
public relief departments and general election expenses. {As amended by L. 
igii, ch. 522.) 

§ 21 Between the ist and 15th days of August in each year the board of educa- 
tion shall make and transmit to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction a 
report of the condition of the schools under their supervision in such form and 
embracing such statistics as the said Superintendent and the laws of the State 
require. 

§ 22 The academy which now is, and any academy or high school which may 
hereafter be, connected with the public school system of said school district shall 
be subject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate in 
the distribution of the income of the literature and other funds in the same man- 
ner and upon the same conditions as other academies of the State ; and the Re- 
gents of The University of the State of New York shall pay annually to the 
board ot education of Elmira, the distributive share of the said funds to which 
the said academy shail be entitled. 



lOO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 23 The schools provided for under this act shall be free to pupils between 
the ages of 5 and 21 years, who are actual residents of said school district. The 
board of education shall decide all questions of residence arising under this sec- 
tion. The said board may allow the children of nonresidents to attend the schools 
of said district, and shall prescribe the rates for the tuition of such nonresidents, 
and also for all pupils over 21 years of age. 

§ 24 The said board of education shall be trustees of the school libraries of 
said school district, and all the provisions of law which are now in force, or here- 
after may be passed, relative to school libraries, shall apply to said board of edu- 
cation in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district. They 
shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys appropri- 
ated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries which is therein con- 
ferred on the inhabitants of school districts, and they shall have power to pur- 
chase, exchange, repair or dispose of any books or other property of said libraries, 
or cause it to be done, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books or 
apparatus; also to provide suitable rooms and furniture for said libraries. 

§ 25 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, furniture, books, and all other school 
property, belonging to the said school district, shall be vested in the city of Elmira ; 
and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall not be levied 
on or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation for 
any purpose whatever; and the said city, in its corporate capacity, shall be com- 
petent to take, hold, and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it 
by grant, gift, bequest or devise, for the use of the schools of said school district, 
whether the same be transferred in terms to said city by its proper style, or by 
any other designation, or to any person or persons, or corporation, for the use of 
said schools. 

§ 26 The common council, may upon the recommendation of the board of 
education, sell any of the property, including existing sites, held by virtue of this 
act, upon such terms as they shall deem most advantageous ; and the proceeds 
of all such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, and shall be by 
said board of education expended in the purchase, repair or improvement of 
schoolhouses, sites, or appurtenances, furniture or apparatus. 

§ 27 It shall be the duty of said board of education, at least fifteen days pre- 
vious to each annual election for commissioners, to prepare and report to the 
common council, a true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements 
under the provisions of this act during the preceding year, in which account shall 
be stated under appropriate heads : 

1 Money raised by the common council under the twelfth section of this act. 

2 The school moneys received by the chamberlain of the city from the county 
treasurer. 

3 The moneys received by the chamberlain of the city under the twelfth sec- 
tion of this act. 

4 All other moneys received by the said city chamberlain, subject to the order 
of the board of education, specifying the sources from which they shall have 
been derived. 



EDUCATION CODE lOI 

5 The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specify- 
ing the amount under each head of expenditure; and the common council shall^ 
ten days before such election, cause the same to be published in one or more 
of the newspapers of said city. 

§ 28 The common council shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to 
pass such ordinances and regulations as the board of education may report as 
necessary for the protection, preservation, safekeeping and care of schoolhouses, 
lots, libraries and property belonging to or connected with the schools of said 
school district, and to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject 
to the restrictions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate said city; 
and all such penalties, and all others by this act imposed, shall be collected in 
the same manner that the penalties for violations of the city ordinances are by 
law collected; and, when collected, shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city 
to the credit of the board of education, and shall be subject. to their order in the 
same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 29 It shall be the duty of the city clerk with due diligence after the appoint- 
ment of commissioners by the common council and after receiving notice of elec- 
tion in the districts, personally or in writing to notify the persons chosen of their 
appointment or election; and any person who, without sufficient cause, shall 
refuse to serve therein shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, and every person so 
elected or appointed and not having refused to accept, who shall neglect to dis- 
charge the duties of such office, shall forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said 
board of education. It shall be the duty of said board of education forthwith to 
prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this act when voluntary payment 
is refused, and when received, to apply the same to the purposes of education in 
said district. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed public officers 
within the intent and meaning of section 2 of article i of chapter 681 of the laws 
of 1892, and as such subject to the conditions therein prescribed. 

§ 30 The superintendent of the public schools of said school district may be, 
ex officio, secretary of the board of education. He shall be under the direction 
of the board of education, and they shall prescribe his general duties. In addi- 
tion to such other duties as may be devolved upon him by the board, in the 
visitation and superintendence of the schools, he shall examine the qualifications 
of teachers and grant certificates in such manner and form as may be prescribed 
by the State Superintendent or by the board of education, and which may at any 
time be revoked by said board of education. He shall be paid a salary out of the 
general fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from 
office by the vote of a majority of all the members of the said board, who may, 
by a like majority, appoint his successor. 

§ 31 All the acts and parts of acts conflicting or inconsistent with the provi- 
sions of this act are hereby repealed, so far as they aft'ect this act. 
§ 32 This act shall take efifect immediately. 



I02 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chapter 86, Laws of 1907 ^ 

An act to establish a retirement fund for pensioning teachers of the pubhc schools 
in the city of Elmira, and to regulate the collection, management and disburse- 
ment thereof 

Section i The general care and management of the public school teachers re- 
tirement fund is hereby given to the board of education, who shall, from time to 
time, establish such rules and regulations for the administration of said fund as 
it may deem best, and said board shall make payments from said fund of an- 
nuities granted in pursuance of this act when so directed by the board of retire- 
ment. The chamberlain of the city of Elmira shall hold and invest all money be- 
longing to said fund in such investments only as are legal for savings banks in 
the State of New York and by direction of said board of education shall pay out 
the same, and he shall report in detail to the board of education of the city of 
Elmira, annually in the month of May, or oftener if required by the board of 
education, the condition of said fund and the items of the receipts and disburse- 
ments of the same. 

§ 2 The retirement fund shall consist of the following, with interest and 
income thereof : 

1 All money, pay, compensation or salary, or any income thereof forfeited, 
deducted, reserved or withheld for any cause from any teacher of the public 
schools of the city of Elmira, in pursuance of rule established or to be established 
by the board of education of the city of Elmira. The board of education shall 
certify monthly to the chamberlain the amounts so forfeited, deducted, reserved 
or withheld during the preceding month. Said amounts shall be turned into the 
said retirement fund. 

2 All money received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise for 
or on account of said fund. 

3 The sum of two thousand dollars yearly as provided for by the common 
council of the city of Elmira. 

4 One per centum of the salaries of all teachers of the public schools of the 
city of Elmira, except that the amount deducted from the salary of any teacher 
shall not exceed twelve dollars in any one year. The board of education shall after 
September i, 1907, deduct from each and every payroll of teachers, said one per 
centum of each and every amount earned in the period covered by said payroll, 
except that the amount deducted from any one salary shall not exceed twelve 
dollars for any one year. The board of education shall certify monthly to the 
city chamberlain, the amounts so deducted, and said amounts shall be turned into 
the said retirement fund. Each contract made by the board of education with 
teachers, shall specify that one per centum shall be deducted as provided in this 

1 The teachers of this city have abandoned the local retirement act and have come under 
the general law relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section log-b of the 
Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of the 
teachers of this city it has been superseded by the general law. 



EDUCATION CODE IO3 

paragraph. Any teacher who shall have been a contributor to the retirement 
fund and who shall retire from the service, not being in receipt of an annuity 
shall, if application be made within three months after the date of his or her re- 
tirement, receive three-fourths of the total amount paid by him or her into the 
retirement fund. 

5 All such other methods of increment as may be duly and legally devised for 
the increase of said fund. 

§ 3 The board of retirement shall consist of the president of the board of 
education, the chairman of the teachers committee, the chairman of the finance 
committee, the superintendent of schools and three members of the teaching 
staff chosen by ballot at a meeting of the teachers, called some time during the 
month of May of each year by the superintendent of schools. At this meeting 
any vacancy in the members of the retiring board to be chosen from the teachers, 
shall be elected by ballot. The three members chosen the first year from the 
teachers shall determine by lot one member who shall serve for three years, one 
member who shall serve for two years, and the remaining member shall serve 
for one year and thereafter one member shall be elected each year. 

§ 4 On the recommendation of the board of retirement the board of education 
shall have the power to retire any of the teachers of the public schools of the city 
of Elmira who, in the discretion of the board of education, is incapacitated for the 
performance of duty, and who has been engaged in the work of teaching for a 
period aggregating twenty years, fifteen of which shall have been in the public 
schools of the city of Elmira. The board of education may retire any teacher 
who shall have attained the age of sixty-five years and shall have been engaged 
in the work of teaching for a period aggregating thirty years. On recom- 
mendation of the board of retirement, the board of education shall retire upon 
his or her own application any teacher of the public schools of the city of Elmira 
who has been engaged in the work of teaching for a period aggregating thirty 
years, fifteen of which shall have been in the public schools of the city of Elmira. 

§ 5 Upon such retirement, whether voluntary or otherwise, the person re- 
tired shall be entitled to receive an annuity out of the retirement fund of one-half 
of his average salary paid to such person for the five years immediately preceding 
retirement, but no annuity shall exceed the sum of four hundred dollars. Any 
person retired after twenty years of service, but with less than thirty years of 
service, shall receive an annuity which bears the same ratio to the annuity pro- 
vided for on retirement after thirty years of service as the total number of years 
of service of said person bears to thirty years. No annuity shall be paid to any 
teacher who has not paid into the retirement fund at least twenty per centum of 
his or her annual salary at the time of retirement. Any teacher who teaches in 
any pubHc school after being retired shall receive no benefit from said fund while 
so teaching. The annuities provided for by this act shall be payable in monthly 
instalments. If the moneys in the retirement fund be inadequate at any time to 
fully carry out the provisions hereinabove mentioned, the board of education 



I04 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

shall then distribute said moneys pro rata to the persons entitled to participate in 
said fund, and such distribution shall be in full of all annuities then due. 
§ 6 The term " teacher " shall include : 

1 All persons regularly employed to teach in the public schools of the city of 
Elmira, except male teachers employed in the high school of Elmira. 

2 Those principals who have served as grade teachers in the public schools of 
the city of Elmira for at least ten years. 



FULTON 

Chapter 63, Laws of 1902 

An act to incorporate the city of Fulton 

TITLE VIII 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 150 City, permanent school district 

151 Outside territory to constitute separate districts 

152 Children of separate districts may attend schools of city; terms 

153 Board of education 

154 Appointment of members of board of education; organization of board 

155 Superintendent of schools 

156 General powers and duties of president 

157 Clerk and his qualifications 

158 General powers of board of education 

159 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools 

160 Payment of funds to chamberlain 

161 Power of board of education to purchase sites, et cetera 

162 Annual report of board of education 

163 State Superintendent to apportion State moneys 

164 Common council to pass ordinances for protection of school property 

165 Charges against members of board of education 

166 Report of superintendent of schools 

167 District a union free school 

Section 150 City, permanent school district. The said city of Fulton shall 
form a permanent school district, and shall not be subject to alteration by the 
district school commissioner of common schools. Such district shall be entitled 
to all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred 
upon school districts by law or other State authority, and shall, except as other- 
wise provided in this act, be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of 
inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts 
in cities. 

§ 151 Outside territory to constitute separate districts. All that territory 
in the town of Volney outside the corporate limits o.f said city, now constituting 
a portion of union free school district number i of the town of Volney, and 
all that territory in the town of Granby outside the corporate limits of said city, 
now constituting a portion of union free school district number 2 of the town 
of Granby, are hereby constituted separate school districts of said towns respec- 
tively. Said districts shall possess the same powers and privileges, and be subject 
to the same liabilities, as other school districts in said towns. 

§ 152 Children of separate districts may attend schools of city; terms. 
The children residing in the separate school districts constituted by the last 
preceding section shall be admitted to the schools of said city and treated in 

[105] 



1C6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

all respects the same as children residing in said city, so long as said districts 
shall remain as constituted by the last preceding section, not however, exceeding 
a period of ten years. Said districts shall pay for each child so admitted to 
said schools, a sum per capita equal to the cost per capita to said city of all 
children attending the schools of said city. The amount chargeable to said 
districts shall be certified annually to each district by the board of education 
of the city of Fulton. Said districts shall apply on such sum so certified, all 
State school funds allotted to said districts, and the balance thereof shall be 
assessed, levied and collected by each such district in the same manner as 
ordinary school expenses of other school districts in Oswego county are assessed, 
levied and collected. Said sums, when so received and collected, shall be 
paid over to the city chamberlain, and by him credited to the school fund of the 
city. 

§ 153 Board of education. The afifairs of said school district of the city 
of Fulton shall be managed by a board of seven members, to be appointed in 
the manner provided in this act, which board shall be known and designated 
as the board of education of the city of Fulton. Said board and its successors 
shall possess all the powers conferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by 
this act, or by any general law of the State relating to school districts in cities, 
or relating to boards of education of such districts, and not inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act. The title to all real estate and personal property 
now belonging to union free school district number i of the town of Volney, 
and union free school district number 2 of the town of Granby, is hereby vested 
in the city of Fulton ; and all moneys and funds belonging to said districts shall 
be paid over and delivered to the chamberlain of said city, and credited by him 
to the school fund of said city. All the rights, powers, privileges, contracts, 
obligations and liabilities of said union free school districts are hereby trans- 
ferred to, vested in and imposed upon the city of Fulton; and the rights and 
privileges of all persons that may have arisen or accrued prior to the passage 
of this act shall remain and be enforced by or against the city of Fulton, 
in the same manner and with like efifect as the same might have been enforced 
by or against the board of education of union free school district number i 
of the town of Volney and union free school district number 2 of the town 
of Granby if this act had not been passed; subject, however, to the provisions 
of this act. 

§ 154 Appointment of members of board of education; organization of 
board. On or before the ist day of May 1902, the mayor of said city shall 
appoint seven members of the board of education, as follows : two members 
whose terms shall expire January i, 1903, two members whose term shall expire 
January i, 1904, and two members whose terms shall expire January i, 1905; 
one of said members shall be appointed from each ward of the city, and shall 
reside therein ; he shall also appoint one member from the city at large, whose 
term shall expire January i, 1904. Thereafter, and on or ten days prior to the 
1st day of January in each year, the mayor shall appoint members to fill the 
terms then expiring; the ward members for the term of three years, and the 



EDUCATION CODE IO7 

member at large for the term of two years. The said members of the board 
of education shall meet on the first Tuesday in May, 1902, and elect one of 
their number as president, who shall hold office until January i, 1904. Each 
two years thereafter, at the first meeting in January, said board shall elect one 
of its members president, who shall hold said office for the ensuing two years. 

§ 155 Superintendent of schools. The said board of education, on the first 
Tuesday of May, 1902, shall appoint a superintendent of schools, whose term 
shall expire January i, 1904. Thereafter, and at its first meeting in January, 
of each even numbered year, said board shall appoint a successor to said super- 
intendent of schools, for the term of two years. Such superintendent shall be 
under the direction of the said board of education, which shall prescribe his 
powers and duties ; he shall be paid from the school fund a salary, to be fixed 
by the board of education. Whenever such superintendent shall be appointed, 
the said school district shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of section 
5 of title 2 of article i of chapter 556 of the Laws of 1894. 

§ 156 General powers and duties of president. The president of the board 
of education shall preside over meetings of the board, when present, and perform 
such executive acts and duties as is required by this act and general laws, and 
such other lawful business as shall be given him or her in charge by said board. 

§ 157 Clerk and his qualifications. The superintendent of schools shall be 
clerk of the board of education, and shall act as secretary and keep the minutes 
of said board, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by this 
act and the general school laws of the State, and such other duties as the board 
may prescribe. 

§ 158 General powers of the board of education. Subject to the provisions 
of this act and of the general Consolidated School Laws, the board of educa- 
tion of the city of Fulton shall have power : 

1 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as it may 
deem advisable. 

2 To purchase, sell or exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expenses attending the 
same. 

3 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said city in regard thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

4 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers for the schools of the 
city, under such conditions, rules and regulations as may be established by the 
board, provided that such rules and regulations are in accord with the general 
school laws of the State and the rules and regulations established by the Depart- 
ment of Public Instruction of the State. 

5 To pay the salaries of superintendent of schools and teachers out of any 
moneys appropriated or provided by law for that purpose. 

6 To defray the necessary expenses of the board and district, including the 
wages of janitors and other assistants and employees, and incidental expenses. 

7 To expend all moneys, raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, 



I08 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

erect or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such manner as may 
be deemed advisable, but only for the purposes for which the same was raised. 

S To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools of 
said city, all teachers employed in the schools of the city, in the same manner 
and with like efifect in said city, as school commissioners of counties, and 
to fix the grade of State licenses of teachers that shall be accepted as the 
minimum requirement for teachers in said city. 

9 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor in the same manner and 
under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon the 
board of public works for opening of streets and highways. 

10 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction and the Regents of the University of this State, 
the entire supervision and management of the schools of said city ; from time 
to time to adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and 
regulations for its organization, government, and instruction; for the reception 
of pupils and their transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse to another; 
for their advancement from class to class as their degree of scholarship shall 
warrant, and generally to promote the good order, efficiency and prosperity of 
all the schools of the city. 

11 To allow the children or persons nonresidents of the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of the said board, upon such terms as 
said board may, by resolution, prescribe. 

12 To establish and maintain a city school library and provide suitable rooms 
for the use of the same; to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition 
of the moneys provided by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts. 

13 Other than as provided by this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

14 Other than as provided in this act, to exercise all the powers conferred, 
and all the duties imposed by the general laws of the state applicable to boards 
of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a 
transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all 
courts or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 159 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools. 
On or before the 15th day of October in each year, the said board of education 
shall prepare a statement of such sums of money as it shall deem necessary 
during the fiscal year commencing with the ist day of January next ensuing, 
for each of the following purposes: 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school, if one shall have been established, 
and the payment of the teachers thereof after applying such of the public school 
and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 



EDUCATION CODE IO9 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds with the appendages 
and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, fur- 
niture and fixtures. 

5 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay contingent expenses of the 
district, including the salaries of janitors, assistants, employees, and incidental 
expenses. 

Before the meeting of the board of education at which the aforesaid state- 
ment is prepared, the said board of education shall give to the mayor official 
notice thereof, and the mayor shall attend said meeting and be accorded the 
right of inquiry into all the items of said statement, and all the privileges in 
said meeting of the members of said board, except the privilege of voting. 
Whenever the board of education shall finally have determined on the statement 
of expenses itemized as heretofore provided, it shall present the same to the 
mayor or acting mayor of the city of Fulton. If the m.ayor or acting mayor 
approves such statement he shall sign it, and immediately file the same with the 
city clerk ; if he does not approve any item therein, he shall within five days 
return the statement with his objection indorsed thereon or annexed thereto, 
to the president of the board of education. Said board shall then proceed to 
reconsider such statement, and if two-thirds of the members then in office 
agree to sustain the statement as made, it shall stand as if it had been approved 
by the mayor, and shall be immediately filed with the city clerk. If two-thirds 
of the members of said board do not agree to sustain the statement as made, 
it shall be modified so as to conform to the views expressed by the mayor in 
his objection, and he shall then sign it and file it with the city clerk. If the 
mayor or acting mayor fails to sign a statement of moneys required as herein 
provided, or fails to return within five days after its submission, said statement 
with his objections thereto to the board of education, said statement shall be 
filed with the city clerk in the same manner as if it had been approved. When 
such statement is filed with the city clerk, the common council of said city shall 
include in the annual tax and assessment roll for the ensuing year the amount 
specified in said statement and the same shall be collected by the city chamber- 
lain, who shall credit the same to the general school fund of the city. 

§ 160 Payment of funds to chamberlain. All public moneys or public funds 
now belonging or appropriated to the use of said school district number i of 
the town of Volney, or of said school district number 2 of the town of Granby, 
shall be paid to the chamberlain of said city, who shall keep the same separate 
from the general funds of the city and shall credit to the school fund the moneys 
or property belonging thereto. The board of education shall disburse all the 
school funds of said district by orders upon the chamberlain signed by the 
president and countersigned by the clerk of said board ; said orders shall be 
numbered consecutively, and shall specify the purpose for which they are 
drawn and the person to whom payable. Upon request from said board, the 
chamberlain shall certify, from time to time, the balance remaining to be col- 
lected by or paid to him for school purposes. 



no THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ i6i Powers of board of education to purchase sites, or addition to any 
site, or erect or enlarge any school building. Whenever the board of education 
shall resolve by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members that it is 
necessary to purchase a site or addition to any site, or erect any school building 
or enlarge any school building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution 
the ward within which such site is to be purchased, or building erected or enlarged, 
and the particular sum required for each separately. The board of education 
shall then deliver a certified copy of such resolution to the common council, which 
shall, within thirty days of the receipt of said resolution call a special election 
of the qualified electors of said city to vote for or against such appropriations as 
the proposed expenditures will impose. Said election shall be conducted and the 
result declared and certified pursuant to the provisions and manner prescribed 
for conducting special elections provided in this act. In case a majority of the 
votes cast be in favor of any of said appropriations, the common council shall 
borrow upon the faith and credit of said city the aggregate of the items having 
such majority, or any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can 
be provided for according to law. The common council shall issue bonds of the 
city therefor. 

§ 162 Annual report of board of education. It shall be the duty of the 
board of education, on or before the ist day of January in each year, to make 
to the common council of the city a detailed report of the manner in which it 
shall have expended the money provided for and appropriated to school pur- 
poses from any source during the last fiscal year ; and such report shall be pub- 
lished by the common council in connection with, and as a part of, the annual 
report of the financial transactions of the city, which they are required by law 
to publish. 

§ 163 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State 
moneys. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the 
State, to apportion for the use of the said board of education of the city of Fulton 
such portions of the school, school library, and other public money, as it shall 
be entitled to by its annual report, in the same manner in which such moneys are 
apportioned to cities; and the amounts to which it shall be so entitled shall be 
certified to the county treasurer of Oswego county. The said county treasurer 
of Oswego county shall pay over to the city chamberlain of the city of Fulton, 
for the use of said city, such proportion of the school, school library, and other 
public money as may be apportioned by law or by the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of the State to the board of education of the city of Fulton for 
teachers' wages, school library, and other school purposes. 

§ 164 Common council shall pass ordinances for protection of school prop- 
erty. The common council of the city of Fulton shall have the power, and it 
shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of education 
of said city shall report necessary for the protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of the school buildings and other school property of said district, 
and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. 
§ 165 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any member of board 



EDUCATION CODE III 

of education. Charges of misconduct or violation or neglect of duty on the 
part of any member of the board of education may be presented to said board 
by any member thereof, or by any elector of the city of Fulton, and such charges 
shall be duly examined by such board, at a regular or special meeting, of which 
the accused member shall have at least five days' notice, but at which meeting 
said accused member shall not be entitled to vote. If at such meeting, after 
hearing the evidence on both sides, said board shall deem the charges against the 
member sustained, then all the papers and documents in the case, with a transcript 
of the proceedings of the meeting, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the board 
of education to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State; and upon 
his approval of the findings of the board, the accused member shall be removed 
and his place deemed vacant. 

§ i66 Report of superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools 
of the city of Fulton shall confer with and act under the direction of the board 
of education of said city in the performance of his duties. He shall, subject to 
the direction of said board, have general control and supervision of the public 
schools in said city, and of the teachers employed therein, and shall, on or before 
the 1st day of January in each year, or at such other time or times as shall be 
required by said board, report in writing to the board of education on the fol- 
lowing subjects : 

1 The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of educa- 
tion, their cleanliness and their sanitary condition. 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for each of said schools. 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books, in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, their grade of work, 
and their efficiency, with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the number 
thereof. 

5 The number of pupils registered in each school, the average daily attendance, 
and also the number of pupils enrolled in each grade in the several schools. 

6 Such changes in the organization and curriculum of any or all of the schools 
as he may deem advisable. 

7 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the people of Fulton. 

§ 167 District a union free school. The said district shall be deemed, and 
is hereby declared to be, a union free school district under the laws of the State 
relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond with 
any incorporated city, and the board of education therein, and the corporate 
authorities of such cities, are made applicable to the school district hereby estab- 
lished, and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of 
the city of FuUon. 



GENEVA 

Chapter 175, Laws of 1844 
An act in relation to school district number i in the town of Seneca and in the 

county of Ontario^ 

Section i It shall be lawful for the trustees of school district number i, in the 
town of Seneca, in the county of Ontario, at the next annual mxceting of the 
district after the passage of this act, to submit for the consideration of such 
meeting a proposition graduating the rates of tuition to be paid by scholars 
attending the different departments into which such school is now divided; if the 
same is approved or shall be so amended as to be approved by a majority of 
those present qualified to vote in such meetings, such rates may be charged and 
collected, but they shall not be raised during the year next following their 
adoption. 

§ 2 At any annual meeting of the district, after such rates of tuition have 
been adopted the same may be raised, reduced or entirely abolished, by a majority 
of such meeting. 

Chapter 252, Laws of 1853 

An act in relation to school district number i, in the town of Seneca in the county 

of Ontario 
(Repealed by L. 1913, ch. 427) 



Chapter 43, Laws of 1869 

An act in relation to school district number i of the town of Seneca, Ontario 

county 
(Repealed by L. 1913, ch. 427) 

• This act, though not specifically repealed, is superseded by the general law. 

[112] 



GLENS FALLS 

Chapter 29, Laws of 1908 
An act to incorporate the city of Glens Falls 

TITLE XV 

CITY SCHOOLS 
Section 167 School districts 

168 School officers 

i68-a Levy and collection of school taxes 

169 School moneys apportioned 

170 Power to borrow money 

Section 167 School districts. The territory included within the boundaries of 
the city of Glens Falls shall remain in the several school districts as they exist 
at the time of the passage of this act, subject to alterations in accordance with 
the provisions of the school law. Such school districts and parts of school 
districts shall be entitled to and have all the rights, powers, privileges, public 
moneys and other benefits, conferred by law, or otherwise, upon schools and 
school districts, and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of in- 
spection and superintendence applicable to schools and school districts, except 
as provided by the next two sections. 

§ 168 School officers. The officers of the several school districts and parts 
of school districts included within the boundaries of the city of Glens Falls shall 
be and continue the same and be elected or appointed the same, and possess the 
same powers and be subjected to the same duties and liabilities as is now pro- 
vided by the Consolidated School Law, except that the city chamberlain shall be 
the collector for and collect all school taxes levied upon property situate within 
said city and against persons, corporations and associations in said city, and he 
shall be the custodian of all such school moneys as shall be paid to him by the 
county treasurer of Warren county, and, also, all moneys received for tuition 
and all other school receipts whatsoever. The city chamberlain shall deposit all 
such funds in the bank or trust company where the city funds are deposited, and 
shall receive the same interest thereon as is paid on city funds ; he shall keep the 
funds of each district separately and credit each fund with any interest thereon, 
and shall pay out said funds only upon warrants issued by the several school 
district officers. (As amended by L. ipop, ch. 550.) 

§ i68-a Levy and collection of school taxes. The valuation of taxable 
property within the boundaries of the city of Glens Falls shall be ascertained 
from the current city assessment roll after the same has been corrected as pro- 
vided by sections 143 and 144 of this act. In fixing the tax rate for any school 
district, a portion of which is within and a portion of which is without the 
boundaries of the city of Glens Falls, the trustees of such district shaU make 
the com.putation upon both the assessed valuation of such district within the 
boundaries of the city of Glens Falls as ascertained from the current city assess- 
ment roll, and the valuation of such district without the boundaries of the city 

[113] 



114 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of Glens Falls to be ascertained from the current town assessment roll, after its 
revision by the assessors. Such school tax upon property within the boundaries 
of the city of Glens Falls shall be collected in the same manner, and upon the 
same conditions, terms and penalties as city taxes are collected under this act, 
and any fees or penalties collected by reason of such taxes not being paid within 
the required time shall be credited to and deposited with the funds of the school 
district which levied the tax on which such fees or penalties were collected. The 
city chamberlain as such shall not be entitled to any fee for collecting such school 
taxes, and shall keep a separate account with each of such school districts, keep- 
ing each fund separately, and render monthly or other financial statements to and 
as directed by the several school districts. Each of said school districts may ap- 
point a collector, in the manner provided by the consolidated school law, to collect 
any school taxes levied upon property or against persons, corporations or associa- 
tions within said district outside of the boundaries of the city of Glens Falls. 
(As added by L. ipop, ch. 330.) 

§ 169 School moneys apportioned. The county treasurer of Warren county 
shall pay over to the city chamberlain, for the use of the several school districts 
wholly or partly within the boundaries of said city, such part of the school, 
library and other public moneys in his hands as shall have been apportioned to 
said district for teachers' wages, libraries and other purposes, and the city 
chamberlain shall receive, deposit and pay out as herein provided, all other public 
moneys which shall be apportioned to said school districts by any officer or officers, 
board or boards and from what source soever. The city chamberlain shall ap- 
portion the sum paid to him for school purposes from the proceeds of the tax 
on mortgages between the several school districts wholly or partly in the said 
city, upon the basis of the aggregate days of attendance of the pupils of such 
schools resident within the city, as such attendance appears from the statement 
filed with him by the school commissioner in March of each year, and shall 
notify the trustee or board of education of each of said school districts of the 
amount so standing to the district's credit in his hands. For the purpose of 
apportioning the sum paid him for school purposes from the proceeds of the tax 
on mortgages, the supervisor of the town of Queensbury shall regard that part 
of the school district lying partly in said town and partly in said city of Glens 
Falls, which is situated in said town, as a separate district. The teachers, trustees 
and board of education of school districts lying partly in said town and partly in 
said city, shall ascertain the aggregate days' attendance of pupils residing in the 
city and pupils residing in the town, and report the same separately to the 
school commissioner of the first district of Warren county at the time of making 
their annual report in August. The said school commissioner shall report in the 
following March to the city chamberlain and the said supervisor respectively such 
aggregate attendance of school districts and parts of districts. 

§ 170 Power to borrow money. The board of education of union free school 
district number i shall have the same power to borrow money and under the 
same conditions and in like manner as is herein conferred upon the common 
council. 



GLOVERSVILLE 

Chapter 275, Laws of 1899 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Gloversville 

TITLE X 
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

Section 185 School district of city 

186 Board of education, a body corporate; its powers and duties 

187 Powers of board in purchase, et cetera, of real estate; title of school property 

vested in 

188 Annual election of school officers 

189 Canvass and declaration of result of election; organization of board 

190 Quorum of board; duties of clerk; general powers of board 

191 Annual certificate of sums necessary for school purposes 

192 Payment of funds to chamberlain 

193 Resolutions for purchase of sites, et cetera; tax elections; how conducted 

194 Annual reports of board 

195 Apportionment of State moneys for use of board 

196 Ordinances for protection of school property, et cetera 

197 Vacancies in board, how filled 

Section 185 School district of city. All the territory included within the 
boundaries of the city of Gloversville shall hereafter constitute a separate school 
district within this State, and shall be designated as " the school district of the 
city of Gloversville." It may bear such other additional designation as the Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction of this State may by law prescribe. Such dis- 
trict shall be entitled to all the rights, powers, privileges, public m.oneys, and 
other benefits conferred by law or other State authority upon school districts, 
and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of inspection, and super- 
intendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts in cities, except as 
otherwise provided by this act. 

§ 186 Board of education, a body corporate; its powers and duties. The 
affairs of said school district of the city of Gloversville shall be managed by a 
board of nine members, to be organized or elected in the manner in this title pro- 
vided, which board shall be known and designated as the " board of education 
of the city of Gloversville." Said board of education is hereby constituted a body 
corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon it by this act 
or by any general law. and may sue and be sued by the corporate name aforesaid, 
and shall have a corporate seal. Said board and its successors shall possess all the 
powers conferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by this act, or by any 
general law of this State relating to school districts in cities, or relating to boards 
of education of such districts, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act. 

[115] 



Il6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 187 Powers of board in purchase, et cetera, of real estate; title of school 
property vested in. The board of education of the city of Gloversville shall have 
the power, subject to the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, lease, hold, or 
improve any real or personal estate in trust for said school district of said city 
in the support and maintenance of schools or for any of the purposes of educa- 
tion in said city. It may also take by gift, grant, bequest, or devise and hold 
any real or personal estate in trust for any of the purposes of education, art, or 
the purchase, support, or maintenance of public libraries in said city, upon such 
terms as may be prescribed by the donor or donors and accepted by said board; 
and it may execute any trust for any of the purposes aforesaid and provide for 
the proper execution thereof. The title of all the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furni- 
ture, books, apparatus and other school property heretofore belonging to or in 
the possession of the school district of the city of Gloversville or the board of 
education thereof is hereby vested in the board of education of the city of 
Gloversville for the purposes of education in said city. 

§ 188 Annual election of school officers. The annual election for school 
officers in said city shall be held on the second Tuesday of September of each 
year; and there shall be elected each year at such election three members of the 
board of education of said city for a term of three years each, and such other 
members to fill vacancies as shall have occurred during the preceding year for 
the unexpired term of any member whose office shall become vacant. Public 
notice of every annual or tax election held under this title shall be given by the 
board of education by a notice signed by its president and clerk, which notice 
shall be published in the official newspapers of said city at least once in each 
week for two consecutive weeks immediately preceding such election. The board 
of education shall each year designate at least three polling places in as many 
separate wards at which such annual election shall be held and the particular 
ward or wards for which each particular polling place shall serve, and the same 
shall be set forth in said notice, the officers to be elected thereat, together with 
the terms for which they are to serve respectively. The clerk of the board of edu- 
cation shall, each year, and at least ten days before the date of such annual elec- 
tion, notify the inspectors of the election districts in which each of the said poll- 
ing places so designated are situated, by a notice mailed to each of them in the 
post office of said city, of every such election and polling places designated by the 
board. The inspectors of each of said election districts shall preside and con- 
duct said annual election at the places in their respective districts designated as 
aforesaid, and their powers and duties in respect thereto shall be determined and 
regulated by the provisions of this act in respect to the holding of the annual 
city elections for city officers, except as modified by this title. Said election shall 
be opened at each polling place at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and shall be kept 
open without intermission or adjournment until four o'clock in the afternoon, 
when the same shall be finally closed, and the inspectors shall forthwith, without 
intermission or adjournment, canvass all the votes cast, declare and make a state- 
ment of the result, as required by this act in the case of annual city elections for 
city officers, and shall forthwith file such statements of the result with the clerk 



EDUCATION CODE II/ 

of the board of education of said city. Every inhabitant of said city who, at the 
time and place of offering his or her vote, shall be qualified to vote for school 
officers under the general laws of this State relating to public schools, shall then 
and there be entitled to vote at such election ; but no such inhabitant shall 
vote at any polling place except that designated for the ward in which he or she 
shall reside at the time of offering such vote, and shall have so resided for at 
least thirty days immediately prior to such election. 

§ 189 Canvass and declaration of result of election; organization of board. 
On the day following each annual school election in said city, the board of educa- 
tion shall convejie at seven o'clock in the afternoon, at its usual place of meeting, 
and all the statements of the votes cast at each of the polling places designated 
as aforesaid shall be produced, and the board of education shall forthwith de- 
clare the result and make a certificate in writing of all those who were duly 
elected at said election, and shall immediately file a duplicate thereof, signed by 
the president and clerk, in the office of the city clerk. The persons so elected 
shall thereupon take the usual oath of office, and the board of education of the 
city of Gloversville, as constituted for the preceding years shall be dissolved, and 
the board of education, composed of the persons so declared elected and those 
whose terms of office shall not have expired, shall then be organized by the elec- 
tion of a president from among their number and of some suitable person not of 
their number, but who shall be a resident of said city, as clerk of said board. The 
said board shall appoint and provide a place for its meetings, and adopt such 
rules and regulations for such meetings and the dispatch of its business and in 
the appointment of committees as it may deem advisable. 

§ 190 Quorum of board ; duties of clerk ; general powers of board. A major- 
ity of the board of education shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of bus- 
iness. The members of said board shall receive no compensation, directly or in- 
directly, for their services. They shall appoint a clerk who shall hold office 
during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by said 
board. The clerk shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board, and 
shall perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. Subject to the pro- 
visions of this act, said board shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1 To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools, in- 
cluding night schools, as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to 
change or discontinue the same in their discretion. 

2 To purchase or hire, sell or dispose of, schoolhouses, lots and sites, as they 
may deem advisable. 

3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may 
deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve, and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture, and appendages, and to defray the necessary expenses attending the same. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture, and appendages, and to see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said city in relation thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

6 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to- 



Il8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

remove them, under such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law or 
by the Department of Public Instruction of said State. 

7 To pay the wages of teachers out of any money appropriated or provided 
by law for that purpose. 

8 To employ a superintendent of instruction for said city and pay the wages 
or salary thereof out of any money provided for that purpose. 

9 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board and said dis- 
trict, including wages of the clerk, janitors and other assistants and employees. 

10 To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes for which the same was 
so raised, except as hereinafter provided. 

11 To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of instruction 
of said city, all teachers employed in the schools of said city, in the same manner 
and with like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties. 

12 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor in the same manner and 
under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon 
the common council to take and appropriate lands for opening of streets and 
highways. 

13 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers except the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction in this State, the entire supervision and manage- 
ment of the schools of said city, and from time to time adopt, alter, modify, or 
repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, 
government, and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from 
one schoolroom or house to another, for their advancement from class to class 
as their degrees of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of 
the good order and prosperity of said schools. 

14 To allow the children of persons nonresident within the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of the said board upon such terms as 
said board may prescribe by resolution. 

15 To establish and maintain a city school library and to provide suitable 
rooms for the use of the same; and to employ and pay a librarian and assistants 
±0 have the care and supervision of the books and other publications belonging 
thereto, and superintend the letting out and return thereof. To exercise the 
same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys provided by law for the pur- 
chase of libraries as is conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts. 

16 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

17 To organize, establish, and maintain school savings banks, under the 
authority of and in conformity with any general law of the State in regard to 
such or similar institutions. 

18 Except as otherwise provided in this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred and all the duties imposed by the general laws of the State applicable to 
boards of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a 



EDUCATION CODE II9 

transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all 
courts or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 191 Annual certificate of sums necessary for school purposes. On or 
before the ist day of March of each year the board of education shall prepare 
a certificate of such sums of money as it may deem necessary for each of the fol- 
lowing purposes, namely : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying all the public 
school and other moneys applicable thereto. 

2 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds, with their ap- 
pendages and appurtenances. 

3 For the purchase, repair, or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

4 For the purchase, maintenance, and care of the city school library, but not 
to exceed two thousand dollars in any one year. 

5 For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes, the purchase 
of fuel and lights, and to pay the contingent expenses of the district, including 
the salaries of the clerk, janitors and incidental expenses. Such certificate, 
within the time hereinbefore specified, shall be presented to the mayor or acting 
mayor of said city, and if he approves, he shall sign it, and immediately file the 
same with the city clerk ; if he does not approve any item therein he shall, within 
five days, return the same to the president or clerk of the said board of education 
with his objections indorsed thereon or annexed thereto. The board of education 
may then proceed to reconsider said certificate, and if two-thirds of all the mem- 
bers then in office agree to pass the same, it shall take effect the same as if it 
had been approved by the mayor, and shall be immediately filed with the city 
clerk. In case two-thirds of said members do not agree to pass the same, they 
shall thereupon present another certificate to conform as nearly as may be to the 
views of the mayor as expressed in his objection ; and if he approves it he shall 
sign the same; but if he does not approve any item thereof he shall, within 
twenty-four hours return the same with his objections as before. The board of 
education shall continue to present certificates as aforesaid until the mayor's 
approval is obtained, or until two-thirds of its members agree to pass the same 
over his objection. Such annual certificate so approved or adopted shall be filed 
with the city clerk, and the common council of said city shall include the same 
in the annual city tax and assessment roll for that year, and the amount so certified 
shall be collected by the chamberlain and be credited to the various funds as 
designated in said certificate. Whenever any such sum or sums shall have been 
so certified and filed with the city clerk, the city chamberlain shall have authority 
and it shall be his duty to borrow upon the faith and credit of said city the amount 
so certified, or any part thereof which may be necessary to meet the orders of 
the board of education upon him in paying the current expenses of said district. 

§ 192 Payment of funds to chamberlain. All public moneys or public funds 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said district, shall be paid to the cham- 
berlain of said city, who shall keep the same separate from the general funds of 
the city, and shall credit to each of the school funds the moneys or property be- 



I20 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

longing thereto. The board of education shall disburse all the funds of said dis- 
trict by orders upon the chamberlain, signed by its clerk and countersigned by 
its president. Said orders shall be numbered consecutively, and shall specify the 
purposes for which they are drawn, the person to whom payable, and the par- 
ticular school fund to which they are chargeable. Upon request from said board 
the chamberlain shall certify from time to time the various balances remaining 
to the credit of any or all of said flmds. Whenever any moneys are collected by 
or paid to the city chamberlain for school purposes it shall not be lawful for 
said chamberlain to apply such money or any part thereof to any other purpose 
or object. The bor.rd of education of the city of Gloversville may loan to 
the city of Gloversville at such time or times and on such terms and at a 
rate of interest not exceeding five per centum per annum as it may deem advisable, 
any moneys of the board of education which are not deemed necessary by it for 
its immediate use. Such loan or loans shall be made only upon a written obliga- 
tion or obligations of said city and the faith and credit of said city shall be 
pledged for the payment thereof and for all renewal or renewals of said loan or 
loans. (As amended by L. IQ14, ch. 281.) 

§ 193 Resolutions for purchase of sites, et cetera; tax elections, how con- 
ducted. When the board of education shall determine by a resolution that it is 
necessary to purchase any site or addition to any site or erect any school building, 
or enlarge any school building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution 
the ward within which such site is to be purchased, or building erected or en- 
larged, and the particular sum required therefor. They shall then call a tax 
election in said city in the same manner as provided in this act for the calling 
of tax elections by the common council. Such tax elections may be held at the 
same time and with any other school election within said city. The clerk of the 
board of education shall notify the inspectors of the holding of such tax election 
in the same manner and within the same time that the city clerk is required to 
notify them in case of tax elections called by the common council. The in- 
spectors shall thereupon proceed to hold such election pursuant to such resolution 
in the same manner as in holding other tax elections under this act; and the 
qualifications of the electors thereat shall be the same as provided in section 188 
of this title. When such election is not held at the same time and with a school 
election, the board of education shall designate the polling places as at other school 
elections, and such election shall be held by the same inspectors as under like 
designation for the annual school election, and during the same hours and in the 
same manner. Each elector at every such tax election shall vote only at the 
polhng place designated for the ward in which he resides, and shall have resided 
for the thirty days immediately prior to said tax election. The vote shall be 
taken by ballot, which shall be indorsed " school tax," and shall be deposited 
in a separate ballot box provided therefor and marked " school tax." The board 
of education shall at every such tax election, provide sufficient printed ballots 
for the use of the electors thereat, upon which shall be printed the several items 
or objects to be voted for thereat, with the words " for" and "against" at the 
beginning of each item. Each elector shall indicate his vote as to each of said 



EDUCATION CODE 121 

items by erasing or drawing a mark through one or the other of said words. 
The inspectors shall canvass the said votes without intermission or adjournment 
as at other elections, and make a statement thereof in respect to each item voted 
upon, and immediately file the same with the clerk of the board of education. 
Upon the day following such tax election, the board of education shall convene 
at its usual place of meeting, at seven o'clock in the evening, and the statement 
from each polling place shall be produced, and the board shall forthwith declare 
and make a certificate in writing of the result. If the board of education at any 
time after a special tax election, held as provided for under this section, shall 
consider it advisable to change any of the conditions of the proposition so adopted 
at said tax election, it shall have the right to resubmit any such changes by 
calling a tax election therefor, which shall be held in the manner set forth in 
this section. If such changes shall be approved by a majority of the votes cast 
at said tax election, then such changes shall be adopted by the board of education, 
and made a part of the original proposition, and shall have the same force and 
effect as though contained in the original proposition adopted at the first tax 
election, and all acts and contracts of the board of education, and moneys 
borrowed, and bonds and other obligations issued by the board of education upon 
the authority of such changes, shall be valid acts and obligations of the city of 
Gloversville and shall have full faith and credit as such. In case a majority of 
the votes cast, at any tax election held under this section, be in favor of the 
subject presented at said tax election, and of the sum or sums asked for, and 
the conditions in reference thereto, the board of education shall have authority 
to carry out the subject so authorized, and to borrow upon the faith and credit 
of said city, the aggregate of the items so authorized, or any part thereof, at any 
time before and until the same can be provided for according to law. In case the 
sum or sums so authorized to be raised shall exceed the sum of five thousand 
dollars, the board of education shall issue bonds or other evidence of indebted- 
ness in such form as it may prescribe for the amount exceeding such sum of 
five thousand dollars, at a rate of interest not exceeding 5 per centum per annum, 
and payable at the rate of five thousand dollars per year. Said bonds or any 
part thereof may be sold by the said board of education in such manner as they 
may deem best, but at not less than the par value thereof. The board of education 
shall, on or before the ist day of March in each year, make and file with the 
city clerk a statement of the amount necessary to be raised to pay the interest 
and principal that will become due during the ensuing year upon the bonds or 
obligations so issued by said board, and the common council shall include the 
same in the annual city tax and assessment roll for that year. Such amount shall 
be collected by the chamberlain and credited to the " loan fund." The common 
council, upon receiving the certificate of the result of any such tax election from 
the board of education, at which any money was voted to be raised, shall include 
five thousand dollars of the amount so authorized to be raised, or any less sum 
which may have been so authorized, in the next levy and assessment roll for the 
collection of taxes in said city, except that whenever any such tax election may 
have been held, and money voted to be raised there shall be outstanding and 



122 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

unpaid any bonds or evidences of indebtedness issued in accordance with the 
provisions of this section, the board of education shall borrow, in the same 
manner as hereinbefore provided, the whole amount voted at such tax election ; 
but no bonds or other obligations shall be made to mature at such a time as will 
make the amount to be raised by tax for this purpose in any one year exceed five 
thousand dollars of principal, and the interest on all such bonds and obligations 
remaining unpaid. This shall not be construed to afifect any obligation made 
prior to the passage of this act. The board of education, after completing the 
work or other objects for which the said money may have been raised, may apply 
any unexpended balances that may remain to any object, authorized or contem- 
plated by this section. (As amended by L. ipo/, ch. 549.) 

§ 194 Annual reports of board. The board of education, on or before the 
1st day of September in each year, shall make and publish in the official news- 
papers of said city a report of their receipts and disbursements of school moneys 
during the last fiscal year, showing the amount received from each particular 
source and credit to each of the purposes specified in section 191 of this title and 
also showing the disbursements from each of said funds. The items of said 
disbursements shall be condensed and classified so as to present to the public, 
without addition or computation, the amount paid to each officer and teacher 
for salary, for wages and for each of the purposes specified in section 191, and also 
a full statement of the bonded or other indebtedness of the district. The said 
board may also make and publish, in such form as they shall consider advisable, 
such other and more extended report in relation to the aflfairs of the city schools 
as in their judgment may be of interest to the inhabitants thereof. The board 
of education shall make a report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 
the State and such reports shall be made in the manner and at such time as he 
may direct. Said Superintendent shall have the same power and jurisdiction 
over the elections and affairs of said district as he now has or by law shall have 
over the affairs of school districts in cities. 

§ 195 Apportionment of State moneys for use of board. It shall be the 
duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State to apportion for 
the use of the board of education of the city of Gloversville such portions of 
the school, library, and other money as it shall be entitled to, by its annual report, 
in the same manner in which such moneys are apportioned to cities, and the 
amounts to which it shall be so entitled shall be certified to the county treasurer of 
Fulton county. The said county treasurer of Fulton county shall pay over to 
the chamberlain of the city of Gloversville for the use of the board of education 
of said city such proportion of the school, library, and other money apportioned to 
the said city of Gloversville by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for 
teachers' wages and libraries, or other purposes, as shall by law be apportioned 
to said board of education or district. 

§ 196 Ordinances for the protection of school property, et cetera. The 
common council of the city of Gloversville shall have the power and it shall be 
its duty to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of education of said 



EDUCATION CODE 



123 



city shall report as necessary for the protection, safekeeping, care, and preserva- 
tion of the school buildings and other property of said district, and to impose 
such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. 

§ .197 Vacancies in board, how filled. All vacancies in the board of education 
occasioned by the death, resignation, refusal to serve, removal from the district, 
or otherwise, of any of its members shall be filled by appointment by said board 
until the next annual election ; when the residue of the term, if any, shall be filled 
by some person to be elected to such office for the residue of said term. The 
board of education shall fill by appointment until the next election any office not 
filled at any election by reason of a tie thereat.^ 

§ 74 Annual tax for school purposes. In addition to the said several sums 
hereinbefore mentioned, the common council are hereby authorized and directed 
to annually raise by taxation upon the taxable inhabitants of said city, and the 
property thereof liable to taxation, such sum or sums of money as the board of 
education may each year certify to them as necessary expenses during the current 
year. All taxes assessed in said city in any one year shall, if practicable, be in- 
cluded in one assessment, and collected under and by virtue of the same tax 
warrant. 



1 Chapter 13 of the Laws of 1911 legalizes, confirms and validates all proceedings relating 
to certain bond issues of March 23, 1908 and January 5, 1909. 



HORNELL 

Chapter 386, Laws of 1873 

An act to encourage and promote education in the village of Hornellsville 
Section i The trustees of school district number 7, in the town of Hornellsville, 
county of Steuben, shall constitute a board to be styled the board of education of 
the city of Hornellsville, which shall be a corporate body, with a seal, in relation 
to all the powers and duties conferred upon them by this act, and shall be elected 
from time to time as now provided by law. A majority of the board shall con- 
stitute a quorum. The first meeting of said board shall be held on the first 
Saturday of July, 1873, ^^id the annual meeting of said board in each year there- 
after shall be held on the third Tuesday of August in each year. At the first 
meeting of the board, and annually thereafter at the annual meeting, they shall 
elect one of their number president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent 
a president pro tempore may be appointed. The said trustees shall receive no 
compensation for their services, nor shall they be interested directly or indirectly 
in any contract for building or making any improvements or repairs provided 
by this act. (As amended by L. iQOi, ch. j6.) 

§ 2 The said trustees shall meet for the transaction of all business on the first 
and third Tuesdays of each and every month, and may adjourn for any shorter 
time; special meetings may be called by the president of said board, or in his 
absence or inability to act, by any two members of the board, as often as may 
be necessary, by giving personal notice, printed or in writing, to each and every 
member of the board, or by causing such notice to be left at his last place of 
residence, with some person of suitable age and discretion, or by depositing such 
notice, properly inclosed in a postpaid wrapper, in the post office at Hornellsville, 
directed to the person to be served at his post office address ; such notice shall be 
served as aforesaid, at least twenty-four hours before the hour named for such 
special meeting; all meetings of said board shall be public, and the transactions 
and proceedings of all meetings of said board shall be open for the inspection 
of all persons who may desire to inspect the same, or to take copies thereof for 
the purpose of publication in all or any of the newspapers published in said city 
or elsewhere. The said trustees can only transact business as a board sitting in 
public ; and all their acts shall be entered in the journal or book of minutes of 
said school district. The secretary of said board shall in all cases enter, in the 
record of the proceedings of the trustees, to be kept in said book of minutes, the 
names of all trustees voting on any resolution, and how each voted. No member 
of said board shall in any manner be interested in any contract for furnishing 
any supplies required to maintain any of the schools or departments in said school 
district. (As amended by L. 188 1, ch. 2^4; L. ipoi, ch. j6.) 

fl24l 



EDUCATION CODE I25 

§ 3 The said trustees shall appoint a secretary and treasurer, who shall hold 
their office during the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be 
fixed by the board. The said secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings 
of the board, and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. The 
said record or transcript thereof, certified by the secretary, shall be viewed in all 
courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set forth, and such record 
and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of said board shall at all times 
be subject to the inspection of the people of the district. 

§ 4 The trustees aforesaid shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to 
raise from time to time by tax, to be levied upon all the real and personal estate 
in said district which shall be liable to taxation, as provided by law for school 
purposes, as the board of education shall deem to be necessary and proper, for 
any and all of the following purposes : 

1 To purchase, lease or improve sites for schoolhouses, or sites with buildings 
thereon, for the same purposes. 

2 To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses, 
and their outhouses and appurtenances. 

3 To purchase, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and ap- 
pendages ; but the power herein granted shall not be deemed to authorize the 
furnishing with class or textbooks any scholar whose parents or guardians shall 
be able to furnish the same. 

4 To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, 
including the academical department therein, and the expenses of the school 
library of said district and the necessary expenses of said board, including the 
salary of the secretary of the board. 

5 To pay teachers' wages, after the application of public moneys, which may 
be by law appropriated, apportioned and provided for that purpose. 

6 The amovmt raised for teachers' wages and contingent expenses shall not 
be less than twice nor more than seven times the amount appropriated or appor- 
tioned to said district from the school fund of the State during the previous year, 
nor shall there be raised in any one year for building sites or sites with buildings 
thereon, erecting and repairing schoolhouses and appurtenances, a sum exceed- 
ing four thousand dollars, except as herein otherwise provided for. And the 
board of education are authorized and directed when necessary to borrow in 
anticipation the amount of taxes so to be raised, collected and levied as afore- 
said and to give the bonds of the district, signed by the president of the board 
of education, under the seal of the district as security for repayment of the 
money so borrowed. (As amended by L. ipoi, ch. 56.) 

§ 5 All moneys required to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, 
and all school moneys by the law apportioned, appropriated to, or provided for 
said district, whether from the school, literature or United States deposit funds, 
or under the act to establish free schools throughout the State, or otherwise, 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the said district, who, together with the sureties 
on his official bond, shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as the 



126 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

treasurer of the county of Steuben is for moneys which come into his hands, 
and shall be liable to the same penalties for official misconduct. 

§ 6 The treasurer shall pay out the moneys authorized by this act, to be re- 
ceived by him, upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the sec- 
retary of said board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn except in 
pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be made pay- 
able to the person or persons entitled to receive the same, but he shall receive 
no coimpensation for his services. 

§ 7 The treasurer of said district shall before entering upon his duties exe- 
cute a bond with at least two sureties, to be presented to and approved by said 
board of education. He shall receive all moneys collected by the collector and 
give his receipts for the same, and shall draw upon the treasurer of the county 
of Steuben for the amount due and apportioned from the common school fund 
and upon the Comptroller of the State for the amount appropriated from the lit- 
erature fund, and receive all moneys from any and all sources, that may belong 
to or be due to said school district or academic department, and receive all 
moneys from foreign scholars and give his receipt for the same, and shall pay 
all drafts drawn by the president and secretary of said board, and shall report 
annually at the annual meeting of the board, also at the annual meeting of the 
district, and shall present a statement of his accounts to the board at any time 
they may require, and shall surrender at the end of his term of office all moneys 
and papers in his hands as such treasurer to his successor in office. (As amended 
by L. i8gj, eh. I2j.) 

§ 8 The treasurer of the county of Steuben aforesaid, shall pay to the treas- 
urer of said district all moneys apportioned to said district and which shall come 
into his hands upon the draft of said treasurer, countersigned by the members 
of said board, which said draft, so drawn and countersigned, shall be as valid and 
effectual and have the same force and eft'ect, as if drawn by the trustees of a 
school district, payable to the order of a duly qualified teacher. (As amended by 
L. i8p3, ch. 123.) 

§ 9 A collector shall be elected, chosen or appointed for said district, as now 
provided by law, and have and perform the same powers, rights and duties and 
be liable to the same obligations, penalties, pains and proceedings, as now pro- 
vided by law, except that said collector shall, within the life of his warrant or 
the renewals thereof, pay all moneys collected by him as such collector to the 
treasurer of said school district. 

§ 10 The said board shall have power and it shall be their duty. 

1 To organize and establish such and so many schools or departments in said 
district as they deem requisite and expedient and to alter and discontinue the 
same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolrooms or houses, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 
or sites with buildings thereon, to be used as schoolhouses, and to fence and im- 
prove such sites as they may deem proper. 

3 Upon such lots and upon such sites owned by said district, to build, enlarge, 



EDUCATION CODE 1 27 

alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may deem 
advisable. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, books, 
furniture, apparatus and appurtenances, and to see that their ordinances in re- 
lation thereto are observed. 

5 To contract with, license^ and employ all teachers in said Schools or de- 
partments and the academical department therein, and at their pleasure remove 
them. 

6 To pay the wages of the teacher in said schools out of the moneys appor- 
tioned, appropriated and provided by law, for the support of common schools 
in said district, and the wages of the teachers of the academical department out 
of the moneys appropriated to said department from the income of the literature 
and United States deposit funds, so far as the same shall be sufficient, and the 
residue of the wages of the teachers in said schools and academical department, 
from the moneys authorized to be raised for that purpose by section fourth of 
this act, by a tax upon said district. 

7 To defray the contingent expenses of said common schools and academical 
department, and the expenses of the school library of said district, and the neces- 
sary and contingent expenses of the board, including the annual salary of the 
secretary. 

8 The said board to have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and 
management of the common schools of said district, and from time to time 
adopt, alter, modify and repeal as they may deem expedient rules and regula- 
tions for their organization, government and instruction, or the reception of 
pupils, and their transfer from one school to another, and generally for their 
good order, prosperity and utility, and they shall have the power to expel or sus- 
pend any pupil or scholar from any of the said schools or departments for such 
time as they may see fit, when in their judgment the welfare and good order of 
said schools or departments may require. And to have power on the ist day of 
September, 1873, or at any time thereafter, to establish in said schools an academi- 
cal department to receive into said schools or academical department, pupils re- 
siding out of said district, and to regulate and establish the tuition fee of such 
nonresident pupils in the several departments of said schools, and in such aca- 
demical department, and to collect such fees in the name of said district ; to regu- 
late the transfer of scholars from one department to another, and for their trans- 
fer from class to class ; to direct what textbooks shall be used in said schools and 
academical department; to provide and keep in repair school apparatus, books 
for indigent pupils, furniture and appendages, and fuel and other necessaries 
for the schools and academical department, and to establish, alter, or discontinue 
so many common schools in said district as they may see fit. 

9 To sell, whenever in their opinion it may be advisable, any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, and appurtenances, or any of the school property now or 



1 Authority to license teachers was taken from the board of education by L. 1897, ch. 512, 
§ 3, and by § 14, title 6 of the Consolidated School Law. 



128 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

hereafter belonging to said district. Such sale shall in no case, however, be 
made unless a petition, duly verified by the president of said board, setting forth 
the necessity or expediency thereof, shall first be presented by said board to the 
county court of Steuben county, and an order authorizing such sales and specify- 
ing the terms and conditions thereof shall be granted by said court. Notice of 
the presentation of such petition to said judge shall be published in all of the 
newspapers published in said district at least ten days before the presentation 
thereof. All moneys arising from such sales shall be paid to the treasurer of the 
district, and all securities taken on account of any such sale or sales shall be 
made payable to him. 

10 To prepare and report to the trustees of the village of Hornellsville such 
ordinances and regulations as may be necessary and proper for the protection, and 
safekeeping, care and preservation of schoolhouses, lots, and sites, and appur- 
tenances, and all the property belonging to the district, and to suggest the proper 
penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations. 

11 To cause to be prepared and published in the newspapers published in said 
district, at least ten days before the annual meeting of the electors of said dis- 
trict, a full report: 

1 Stating what schools have been kept during the year and for what time, 

2 The whole number of teachers employed, and in what department, and 
salary. 

3 The number of children on the roll in each department, and the average 
attendance of each. 

4 The number of children in the district between the ages of 5 and 2i. 

5 The amount of school money received by the treasurer, and from what 
source received. 

6 An itemized statement for what purpose expended. 

7 And such other information as they may deem necessary to publish. 

12 To make and direct between the first and second Tuesdays in October, to 
the school commissioner of the district in which said school district is, a report 
in writing dated on the first day of October of the year in whi:h it is made, and 
shall sign and certify it, and deliver it to the clerk of the town of Hornellsville 
aforesaid, and every such report shall certify: 

1 The whole time any school has been kept in said district during the 
year ending on the day previous to the date of such report, and distinguish- 
ing what portion of the time such school has been kept by qualified teachers, 
and the whole number of days, including holidays, in which the school was 
taught by qualified teachers. 

2 The amount of their drafts upon the supervisor or treasurer of said 
district for the payment of teachers' wages during such year, and the amount 
of their drafts upon him for purchase of books and school apparatus dur- 
ing such year, and the manner in which such moneys have been expended. 

3 The number of children taught in the district school or schools during 



EDUCATION CODE I2y 

such year by qualified teachers, and the sum of the days' attendance of all 
such children upon the school. 

4 The number of children residing in the district on the last day of Sep- 
tember previous to the making of such report, between the ages of 5 and 21 
years, and the names of the parents or other persons with whom such child- 
ren respectively reside, and the number of children residing with each. 

5 The amount of money paid for teachers' wages, in addition to the public 
money paid therefor, the amount of taxes levied in said district for purchas- 
ing schoolhouses, sites for buildings, hiring, purchasing, repairing and in- 
suring schoolhouses, for fuel, for district libraries, or for any other pur- 
pose allowed by law, and such other information in relation to the schools 
and the district as the Superintendent of Public Instruction may from time 
to time require. 

§ 1 1 The board of education shall provide that each department shall be visited 
by a committee of one or more of their number at least once in each term. 

§ 12 The academical department to be established as aforesaid shall be under 
the visitation of the Regents of the University of this State, and shall be sub- 
ject to its course of education, and matters pertaining thereto but not in refer- 
ence to the buildings or erections in which the same is conducted, unless in 
case the buildings or erections aforesaid are separate from those of the com- 
mon school department; to all the regulations made in regard to academies by 
said Regents ; and in such department, the qualifications for the entrance of any 
pupil shall be the same as those established by the said Regents for admission 
into any academy of the State under their supervision ; and such academical de- 
partment shall share in the distribution of the income of the literature fund, and 
of the income of the United States deposit fund, with academies in the State 
subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University. Such academical de- 
partment shall be known as the Hornell Free Academy,^ and shall be forever 
free to all persons of school age, who are residents of the said district, and who 
shall comply with the regulations of the said board of education. 

§ 13 It is hereby provided that in case the board of education shall deem it 
expedient to purchase additional sites or lots, and to erect additional buildings 
for the use of said school, or to erect a building for an academy in said district, 
they shall submit the question to a vote of the taxpayers of the district at the 
annual meeting, or at a special meeting called for that purpose, specifying the 
amount to be raised and the manner of raising it, which vote shall be taken by 
ballot, and if a majority of the persons voting shall be in favor of the propositions 
of the board of education, then they shall have the power to raise the sum of 
money voted for that purpose by a tax on the real and personal property in said 
district, which shall be liable to taxation for town and county charges, in like 
manner as other taxes are raised in said district ; and the board of education are 



' Name changed from Hornell Free Academy to Hornellsville High School by act of the 
Regents, January 20, 1898. 

5 



130 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

authorized and directed, when necessary, to borrow in anticipation the amount 
of taxes to be raised, collected and levied as aforesaid and give the bonds of 
the district, signed by the president of the board of education and under the seal 
of the district, as security for the repayment of the moneys so borrowed. The 
money to be raised and paid in annual instalments or otherwise as the board 
shall deem expedient; such proposition, stating the object thereof, shall be first 
published in all the newspapers published in said district, as least two weeks be- 
fore said meeting. 

§ 14 This act shall extend over and be applicable to all the territory lying within 
the bounds of district number 7 of the town of Hornellsville ; and the office of 
school commissioner, so far as is applicable to said district, except as herein pro- 
vided, is hereby abolished. 

§ 15 This act shall take effect the first day of July, 1873 ; and all acts and parts 
of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

§ 16 There shall be five trustees in said school district number 7 ; one of 
whom shall be elected at each annual meeting of said district, and those here- 
after so elected shall hold their office for the term of five years. (As added by 
L. 188 1, ch. 2^4.) 

Chapter 288, Laws of 1906 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Hornellsville and to change the name 

thereof 

§ 56. . . . He [the city chamberlain] shall collect and receive all school 
taxes levied and imposed by the board of education of school district number 7 
in the manner, as nearly as may be, and with the fees provided by law for the 
collection of school taxes; and the tax collected shall be paid by him to the treas- 
urer of said board of education every five days, and the fees collected shall be 
paid to the city and credited to the board of public works fund. Said city cham- 
berlain shall annually settle with and account to said board of education for all 
such money received by him during the preceding year, in the manner, as nearly 
as may be, provided by law for school tax collectors. 

§ 57 . . . Such chamberlain shall also, within ten days after he shall as- 
certain the amount of any school tax to be received by him, execute and deliver 
to the board of education of school district 7 a bond, similar, as nearly as 
may be, to the bond required by law or collectors of school districts in this state. 
No warrant for the collection or reception of any school tax shall be delivered 
to said chamberlain until such bond shall have been executed and delivered by 
him as aforesaid, and approved by the board of education of said district. 

§ 79. If any such taxes shall remain unpaid after diligent effort made to col- 
lect the same by virtue of such warrant, and the officer to whom the warrant is 
delivered shall not be able to collect the same, the chamberlain shall prepare 
separate accounts of such city and school taxes in the manner required by law or 
town collectors, which he shall verify by comparison with the assessment roll, and 
certify to be correct and to each of which shall be annexed the affidavit of the 



EDUCATION CODE I3I 

officer to whom the warrant was delivered, that the sums mentioned in such ac- 
count remain unpaid, that he has not been able upon diligent inquiry, to dis- 
cover any goods and chattels belonging to or in possession of the person charged 
with or liable to pay such sums, whereupon he could levy the same. The cham- 
berlain shall deliver such account of unpaid city taxes to the common council 
which shall be filed with the city clerk and such account of unpaid school taxes 
to the board of education of said district respectively, which shall be filed with 
the clerk thereof, and he shall have the proper credits therefor. . . but noth- 
ing herein contained shall be construed to repeal or in any way impair the eflfect 
of the provision of the existing laws of this State, and the methods of procedure 
and requirements thereof, or the existing laws as to the collection or payment of 
any unpaid or returned school taxes. 



HUDSON 

Chapter 751, Laws of 1895 
An act to revise and consolidate the several acts in relation to the city of Hudson ; 
to revise the charter of said city ; and to establish a city court therein and define 
its jurisdiction and powers 

TITLE XXIV 

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

Section 144 The board of education of the city of Hudson shall be a body 
corporate composed of the members of the board of education and shall have 
power to sue and defend in all courts. It shall have charge of the educational 
interests of the city. Its annual meeting shall be held on the last business day 
of each fiscal year, and it shall then organize for the ensuing fiscal year by the 
election of one of its members as president. It shall hold regular monthly 
meetings on such days as shall be designated by a majority of its members. 
Special meetings may be called at any time by the president, or by any three 
members, by written notice specifying the objects of the meeting, which shall 
be served upon each member not signing the same at least twenty-four hours 
before the meeting by delivering the same to him or leaving the same at his 
place of residence. Three members shall constitute a quorum. The secretary 
shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board, and have charge of its books, 
accounts, papers and vouchers. Such records or copies thereof attested by the 
secretary and president shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of 
the doing of the acts therein recorded. All records, books, accounts, vouchers 
and papers of said board shall be open to public inspection. 

§ 145 Said board of education shall have the power, and it shall be its duty: 

1 To divide the city into school districts ; to establish, organize and reorganize 
such and so many schools, including the common schools now established, as it 
shall deem requisite and expedient, and to discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase or lease schoolhouses, lots or sites for schoolhouses, and upon 
such lots and upon any sites now owned by said city, and used for school pur- 
poses, to build, enlarge, improve, alter and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and 
appurtenances, subject to the provisions of this act. 

3 To purchase, improve and exchange school apparatus, books, furniture and 
appendages, and to have charge of all the real and personal property of the city, 
provided for school purposes, including the joint school district library of the city 
of Hudson, and to make all proper and necessary regulations concerning the 
same, and it may appropriate for the benefit of said library or for apparatus 
necessary for the schools, out of the moneys annually raised in the said city for 
school purposes, an amount not exceeding one hundred dollars in addition to the 
library money received from the State. 

[132] 



EDUCATION CODE 1 33 

4 To appoint a librarian who shall, under its direction, have special charge 
of the library, and to pay the said librarian a salary not exceeding fifty dollars 
per annum out of the school funds of the city. 

5 To defray all the expenses connected with the schools out of the moneys pro- 
vided for school purposes. 

6 To examine, license, employ and pay all teachers of the schools under its 
charge, and at its pleasure to remove them. No teacher employed as such shall 
be a member of the board of education or a child of any such member. 

7 To determine the kind of class books to be used in the several schools ; 
the books thus adopted to be uniform throughout all the schools as near as 
may be. 

8 To have the superintendence, supervision and management of the public 
schools of said city, and adopt, alter and repeal rules and regulations for their 
organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils, for their 
transfer from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of the 
good order and utility of said schools. 

§ 146 The said board of education shall also have power to allow the children 
of persons not residents of Hudson to attend the schools of said city upon such 
terms as the board shall by resolution prescribe. The money received from 
nonresidents shall be used for school purposes. 

§ 147 No officer or person, shall have power to make or shall make any 
purchase, create any liability, or contract any debt on the part of said board, 
unless specifically authorized by said board so to do; and no account, claim 
or demand shall be audited, allowed or paid by said board, unless the same was 
so authorized, nor shall any member of said board be directly or indirectly in- 
terested in any contract made by said board. 

§ 148 Each member of the board shall visit all the schools under its charge 
not less than once in each year, and said board shall provide that each school 
shall be visited by a committee of its members at least once in each term. 

§ 149 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus 
and appurtenances and all other school property shall be vested in the city of 
Hudson, and the same, while used or appropriated for school purposes, shall 
not be levied or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution nor be subject to 
taxation for any purposes whatever. 

§ 150 The common council may, by a two-thirds vote of all its members, 
upon the recommendation of said board of education, sell any of the school- 
houses, sites, lots or any of the school property now or hereafter belonging to 
said city upon such terms as the common council shall deem necessary. The 
proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the city treasurer and deposited to 
the credit of the board of education and shall be by said board expended in 
the purchase, repairs or improvement of school buildings, lots, sites or school 
furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 150-a It shall be the duty of said board of education to certify within ten 
days after this act shall take effect, and annually thereafter on or before the 
last business day of the fiscal year to the common council, an estimate of the 



134 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

amount of moneys necessary to be raised during the ensuing year for the purposes 
of the board of education, specifying in detail the objects thereof, under appro- 
priate heads: 

1 For salaries of teachers 

2 For buildings, including purchase of sites 

3 For repairs 

4 For library 

5 For contingent expenses 

(As added by L. ipo/, ch. 130.) 

§ 150-b The common council shall have power and it shall be its duty, if 
the said estimate, certified by the board of education, as herein provided, shall 
not exceed in amount a sum equal to twenty dollars per capita, based on the 
total number of persons enrolled as resident pupils in the public schools in said 
city, for the year ending on the 31st day of December, next preceding the levying 
of the general city taxes in each year, to appropriate and raise by tax to be 
levied upon the real and personal estate in said city, which shall be liable to 
taxation for the ordinary city taxes or for the city and county charges, such 
sum or sums of money, so certified to be necessary for the maintenance of the 
board of education and to defray the expenses of the said board; but if the 
total amount of said estimate shall exceed in amount a sum equal to twenty 
dollars per capita, based upon the total number of persons so enrolled as resident 
pupils as aforesaid, then the common council may, in its discretion, appropriate 
and raise by tax, as herein provided, any sum not greater than the estimate 
so certified and not less than twenty dollars per capita, based on said total 
number of persons so enrolled as resident pupils as aforesaid, provided never- 
theless that the tax to be levied as aforesaid and collected by virtue of this 
act shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other city 
taxes, and the common council of said city are authorized and directed, when 
necessary, to raise by loan in anticipation of the taxes, the amount to be raised, 
collected and levied as aforesaid, or any part thereof. (As added by L. igoy, 
ch. 130.) 

§ 150-C It shall be the duty of the common council within fifteen days after 
receiving the certificate of the board of education hereinbefore required, of 
the sum necessary or proper to be raised for school purposes, to determine and 
certify to said board of education the amount that will be raised by them for 
the ensuing fiscal year for said board of education. (As added by L. 1907, 
ch. 130.) 

§ 151 Whenever it shall be necessary, in the opinion of the board of educa- 
tion, to build, enlarge, rebuild or repair any school building, or buildings, their 
outhouses or appurtenances, or to purchase a site or sites or furniture or equip- 
ment therefor, then, upon the recommendation in writing of three-fourths of the 
members of said board, filed in the office of the city clerk, the common council 
may, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members thereof, raise the amount 
necessary for such purpose or purposes on the credit of the city, by issuing bonds 



EDUCATION CODE I35 

of said city, of such form as said council shall prescribe, at a rate of interest 
not to exceed five per centum per annum. 

In the year 1913 the board of education may, by a certificate in writing signed by 
four-fifths of its members and filed in the office of the city clerk, certify to the 
common council that the erection of a new high school building in said city 
and the purchase of a site, furniture and equipment therefor, are necessary, 
which certificate shall further certify the sum or sums of money required, in 
the opinion of the board of education, for such purposes. Said certificate shall 
be presented by the city clerk to the common council at its next meeting after 
such filing, and shall be recorded at length in the record of the proceedings 
of the common council. The common council shall thereupon, and within 
thirty days after the filing of such certificate, raise upon the credit of the city 
such sum or sums of money as shall be stated in said certificate and for the 
purpose or purposes therein stated, but not exceeding the sum of seventy-five 
thousand dollars, by the issue and sale of bonds of the city in such form and 
of such denominations as the common council shall prescribe, and at a rate of 
interest not exceeding five per centum per annum and payable at such times 
and in such instalments as the common council shall prescribe. And in the year 
nineteen hundred and fourteen the board of education may by a like certificate 
made, signed, filed, presented and recorded in like manner, further certify to the 
common council that in the opinion of the board of education a further sum or 
further sums of money are required for the completion of the said new high 
school building, and thereupon the common council may raise upon the credit of 
the city such sum or sums of money as shall be stated in such certificate and for 
the purpose or purposes therein stated, but not exceeding fifteen thousand dollars, 
by the issue and sale of bonds of the city in such form and of such denominations 
as the common council shall prescribe and at a rate of interest not exceeding five 
per centum per annum and payable at such times and in such instalments as the 
common council shall prescribe. Such bonds shall be known and described as 
" high school bonds." and shall be signed by the mayor and city clerk and shall 
be sealed with the seal of the city, and shall be sold in such manner as shall be 
deemed by the common council as likely to secure the greatest attainable price 
for such bonds, but not less than par. The proceeds of the sale of such bonds 
shall be deposited with the city treasurer to the credit of the board of education, 
subject to its draft, to be used for the purpose or purposes stated in said certifi- 
cate of the board of education. 

Any and all bonds provided for in this section and the interest thereon shall 
be paid and discharged by tax on the taxable property within the city, and the 
common council shall cause the amount falling due each year on such bonds 
to be assessed, levied and collected at the same time and in the same manner 
as other taxes are collected and paid in said city, and in addition thereto. {As 
amended by L. ipis, ch. 314; L. 19 14, ch. 228.) 

§ 152 y\ll moneys appropriated, raised or received pursuant to the provisions 
of this title, and all school moneys appropriated or provided by law for said 
city, shall be paid to the city treasurer. 



T36 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 153 Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable, it shall be 
its duty to recommend to the common council such ordinances as it may deem 
necessary to carry the foregoing powers into execution. 

§ 154 It shall be the duty of said board to make the annual report to the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before the ist day of Novem- 
ber, of such matters as shall be required. The Superintendent of Public In- 
struction shall continue to appropriate to the city of Hudson, from the school 
moneys of the State, the same amount as is provided for other cities where 
special supervision of the schools is maintained. 

§ 155 The superintendent of public schools shall perform such duties in 
relation to the schools of the city as the board of education shall from time 
to time direct, and shall be the secretary of said board, which shall fix his 
compensation. 

Section 5 provides for a board of education of five members and a superin- 
tendent of public schools. Section 19 provides that the members of the board 
of education shall be appointed and may be removed by the mayor. It also 
fixes the full term of a member of the board of education as five years. 
Section 21 provides that the mayor may fill a vacancy on such board for the 
unexpired term. Under section 23 the members of the board of education are 
required to file with the city clerk a bond of $5000 approved by the mayor for 
the faithful discharge of their duties. Under section 27 members of such board 
are required to take the usual constitutional oath of office. 



ITHACA 

Chapter 503, Laws of 1908 

An act to consolidate and revise the several acts relative to the city of Ithaca 

TITLE VIII 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
Section 170 City one school district 

171 Commissioners; board of education 

172 Election of commissioners 

"^73 City chamberlain to be school collector 

174 Commissioners to take oath of ofifice ; vacancies, how filled 

175 Removal for misconduct; resignation 

176 Annual meeting; president; no compensation 

177 Regular meetings; special meetings, how called 

178 Appointive officers of the board; their duties; records of meetings; evidence 

179 Powers of board of education to raise funds by taxation 

180 Taxes ; how assessed, levied and collected ; bond of city chamberlain ; notice 

to be published and posted 

181 City chamberlain to collect without compensation other than salary; to collect 

percentage additions; daily payment to treasurer of board; settlement with 
board 

182 Certain provisions of consolidated school laws applicable 

183 All moneys to be paid to the treasurer of the board 

184 All moneys to be deposited to credit of the board 

185 Drafts on county treasurer for various funds from the State 

186 Treasurer to pay out moneys on drafts of the board ; make written statement, 

when required; settlement with board and payment to his successor 

187 Board may prosecute official bond of city chamberlain or treasurer 

188 Powers and duties of the board enumerated 

189 Raising fund for new building; to be submitted to voters 

190 High school one of the academies of the State; subject to visitation of the 

Regents ; shall share in State funds 

191 Annual reports to State Superintendent 

192 State Superintendent to apportion school funds ; same to be paid by county 

treasurer 

193 School to be free to residents ; tuition required for nonresidents 

194 Board to be trustees of the school district library; its powers and duties in 

relation thereto; may appropriate two hundred and fifty dollars annually 
19s Title of school property vested in board of education; exemption from levy 
and sale; powers of board to take and hold property 

196 Annual statement to be published; contents 

197 Notice of city clerk of election or appointment; penalty for refusal to serve; 

for neglect of duty; prosecutions 

198 Board may appoint a superintendent of schools; prescribe his duties; his other 

duties ; salary 

199 Conflicting acts repealed ; power of State Superintendent preserved ; his decision 

of disputes final 
Section 170 All school districts and parts of school districts in the city of 
Ithaca shall, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, form one school district, to 

[137] 



138 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

be called the school district of the city of Ithaca. Said district shall not be al- 
tered except by legislative enactment. 

§ 171 The present commissioners of the school district of the city of Ithaca, 
for the periods for w^hich they were respectively chosen, or their successors in 
case of vacancies occurring before the expiration of such periods respectively, 
shall be commissioners of the school district of the city of Ithaca, and the said 
commissioners and their successors, chosen as in this act provided, are hereby 
continued a body corporate, styled the board of education of the city of Ithaca. 
A majority of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum. 

§ 172 There shall be elected annually at each annual city election in said city, 
in the same manner as other general city officers are elected, and by vote of the 
inhabitants qualified to vote for such general city officers, or qualified to vote as 
provided by the Consolidated School Law of the State, four commissioners, to 
fill the places of those whose terms of office expire on the ist day of January next 
succeeding such election. The commissioners shall hold their respective offices 
for the term of three years from the ist day of January next succeeding their 
election, and until their successors shall be elected and enter upon the duties of 
their office, respectively. 

§ 173 This act shall not be so construed as to disqualify any commissioner 
aforesaid for reelection. The city chamberlain of the city of Ithaca shall by that 
title be the collector ex officio of the said school district of the city of Ithaca, and 
his duties, authority and jurisdiction shall extend to all taxes levied by the said 
board of education of the city of Ithaca during his term of office as such city 
chamberlain, and shall continue until his final settlement with said board of edu- 
cation as required by section 181 of this act. Said city chamberlain with refer- 
ence to said taxes shall also perform the duties, possess the powers, and be sub- 
ject to the obligations prescribed by law for town collectors, except as herein 
otherwise provided. 

§ 174 The commissioners elected by virtue of this act, before entering upon 
the duties of their office, shall each take the oath of office prescribed by the con- 
stitution of this State, before the clerk of the city of Ithaca, who is hereby em- 
powered to administer said oath, and said clerk shall file the same among the rec- 
ords of the city. The board of education shall have power and it shall be its duty 
to fill any vacancy in the said board which may occur from any other cause than 
the expiration of term of office, the commissioner so appointed to hold office 
until a successor is duly elected to fill such vacancy, and qualifies. 

§ 175 Any member of the board of education may, for neglect of duty, or 
either immoral or official misconduct, be removed from office by the board, by a 
vote of two-thirds present at any regularly called meeting thereof ; but before final 
action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against said member shall 
be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to explain or refute 
them. Any member of said board may resign his office by giving one month's 
previous notice, in writing, to the said board, which may, if it deem the reason 
sufficient, accept the same. 



EDUCATION CODE 1 39 

§ 176 At each annual meeting of the board it shall elect one of its number 
president of the board, and whenever he shall be absent, or unable to act, it shall 
appoint a president pro tempore. The board shall fix the time for its annual 
meeting, and, unless changed by a resolution of the board, the time thus fixed 
shall be the time for future annual meetings. The commissioners shall receive 
no compensation for their services. 

§ 177 The board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as 
often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special 
meetings may be called by the president, or, in case of his absence or inability to 
act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice 
to each member of the board, or by mailing a written or printed notice to his 
address, at least twenty-four hours before the time for such special meeting. 

§ 178 The board of education shall appoint a secretary, treasurer and libra- 
rian and such other officers as in the judgment of the board of education may be 
deemed necessary, who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of the board, 
and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board ; and the same person may 
hold two or more of such offices. The secretary shall keep a record of the pro- 
ceedings of the board and perform such other duties as the board may prescribe. 
The treasurer shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, furnish a bond 
acceptable to the board of education in such penal sum as may be fixed by it, and 
said board shall have power to increase the amount of said bond whenever in its 
discretion said board may regard it advisable. The librarian shall have full 
charge of the library or libraries of the district, and may appoint such assistants 
as may be necessary, from time to time, and such assistants may be removed at 
any time by the board of education. The record of the proceedings of the board 
of education, or a transcript thereof certified by the secretary, shall be received in 
all courts as prima facie evidence of facts therein stated, and such record, the 
books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the said board shall at all times be sub- 
ject to the inspection of the common council of the city, or any committee thereof, 
or any taxpayer, and a transcript thereof may be taken. The board of education 
may by resolution prescribe the duties of any of its appointees, in addition to the 
duties specified in this title. 

§ 179 The board of education shall have power, and it shall be its duty, to 
raise, by tax to be levied upon all the real and personal estate in said school dis- 
trict, which shall be liable to taxation for school purposes, such sums as may be 
determined to be necessary and proper, for any or all the following purposes, for 
the current year : 

1 To purchase, lease or improve sites for schoolhouses. 

2 To build, purchase, lease, alter, and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and ap- 
purtenances thereto belonging. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus and provide 
suitable and necessary textbooks for the pupils of the several schools under its 
care ; provided, however, that it shall be optional with said board of education to 
provide suitable and necessary text-books for the pupils attending the high school. 



140 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

4 To procure fuel and defray the necessary expenses in keeping the school- 
houses in order, exclusive of repairs, including insurance. 

5 To defray the contingent expenses of the several schools and the district 
library or libraries, including salary of librarian and superintendent. 

6 To defray the contingent expenses of the board of education, including the 
salary of the treasurer and secretary thereof. 

7 To pay teachers' wages after the appHcation of the public money appropri- 
ated by law for that purpose. 

8 To pay charges or expenses incurred by law, or necessary to carry this act 
into effect, or to refund loans contracted by law, and to pay the interest thereon, 
or to pay such sums as shall be required to fulfill any contract duly made under 
the provisions of this act. 

§ 180 The tax aforesaid and all of the taxes to be levied and collected by vir- 
tue of this act, shall be assessed and the tax list made out and delivered to the 
proper officer for collection, within thirty days after the same shall have been 
voted by the board of education. The said tax list shall be made out by the 
board of education upon the basis of the last assessment roll of the city, including 
in such tax list all property on said roll liable to taxation for school purposes, 
except that the board of education may for such purpose amend and correct any 
error which may have been discovered in said roll. The board of education shall 
attach to said tax list its warrant for its collection, directed to the city chamber- 
lain and signed by the president and secretary of the board. Before the delivery 
of the warrant to him the city chamberlain shall execute and deliver to the board 
of education a bond in a penalty fixed by the board, with a surety company as 
surety, to be approved by the board, conditioned for his honestly and faithfully 
discharging his duties as specified in this title, in the collection of school taxes and 
percentage additions, and accounting for and paying over all such money which 
shall come into his hands as such city chamberlain. The premium expense of 
such bond shall be paid by the board of education. The said warrant shall be the 
same in form as a warrant issued by the trustees of a school district of the State, 
and it shall have a like force and effect as are given to a warrant of the trustees 
of a school district by the general laws of the State. The board of education 
may, from time to time as it shall deem proper, renew any warrant, or extend the 
time for the return of any warrant, issued for the collectiorr of any tax assessed 
by them by virtue of this act. The board of education, upon delivering any tax 
list and warrant to the city chamberlain, shall retain a copy of the same and shall 
take a receipt from the city chamberlain for the said tax list and warrant, which 
receipt shall specify the amount and the percentage additions to be collected, and 
the return day of the said tax list. The board of education shall also, imme- 
diately upon the delivery of any tax list to the city chamberlain, publish a notice 
thereof in two of the city papers, stating that until a date therein specified, which 
shall not be less than one month after the first publication, the city chamberlain 
will collect and receive said taxes at his office without percentage. At least five 
copies of said notice, in large type, shall be posted in at least five public places in 



EDUCATION CODE I4I 

each ward of the city at least one month before said date specified. (As amended 
by L. IQ12, ch. 438.) 

§ 181 The city chamberlain shall receive no compensation other than the salary 
in this act provided, for receiving or collecting any money by virtue of said tax 
list and warrant. For one month next after the expiration of the time specified 
in said notice the city chamberlain is authorized to, and he shall, collect and re- 
ceive on all sums unpaid three per centum in addition for the benefit of the board 
of education, and on all sums thereafter unpaid five per centum in addition for 
the benefit of the said board. In addition to the above penalties a further penalty 
may be imposed in the discretion of the said board of education, of interest not 
exceeding six per centum per annum, upon all taxes remaining unpaid after six 
months from the date of the tax warrant. He shall daily pay to the treasurer of 
the board of education all taxes and percentage collected or received. He shall 
settle with the board of education at its first regular monthly meeting after the 
final expiration of said warrant and shall account to it for all moneys received by 
him upon the tax list delivered to him. He shall also comply with section 72* 
of title 7 of the Consolidated School Law the same as is required of the collector 
of any other school district of the State, in which case the board of education 
shall credit him with the amount to which he shall be entitled by virtue of the 
said section. {As amended by L. ipi2, ch. 438.) 

§ 182 It shall be the duty of the board of education to proceed with the ac- 
count of money so credited to the city chamberlain, the same as trustees are di- 
rected to do under Hke circumstances by section 73^, title 7 of the law aforesaid. 
All the provisions of sections 74, 75, 76 and yy" of said title 7 of the aforesaid 
law shall have the same application to the taxes of this school district as to those 
of other school districts of the State. The board of education shall also have the 
same power to sue for and collect any tax as is given by section 85*^ of said title 
7 of the aforesaid law to trustees of school districts. 

§ 183 All moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this title, and all school 
moneys by law appropriated to or provided for, or received from any source for 
said city, shall be paid to the treasurer appointed by the board of education, who, 
together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor. 

§ 184 All moneys raised by virtue of this title, or received from any other 
source, for the use of the public schools in said district, shall be deposited with 
the said treasurer for safekeeping thereof, to the credit of the board of education, 
until dravv^n as hereinafter provided. 

§ 185 The treasurer of the board of education shall, at the proper time in each 
year, draw upon the county treasurer, or other proper officer, for all moneys 
appropriated to said district from the comimon school, literature or other funds 
of this State ; and he is hereby authorized to receive the same for the said district 
as provided in the preceding section. 



* Superseded by § 433 of Education Law (L. 1909, ch. 21 as generally amended by L. 1910, 
ch. 140). 

" Superseded by § 434 of Education Law. 

' Superseded by §§ 435-38 of Education Law. 

* Superseded by § 432 of Education Law. 



142 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 186 The said treasurer shall pay out the moneys received by him by virtue 
of this act only upon drafts drawn by the president and countersigned by the sec- 
retary of the board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn except in pur- 
suance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be payable to the 
person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon. The treasurer, when 
required to do so by the board»of education, shall make to it a written statement 
of the moneys received and disbursed by him on its account, together with the 
amount in his hands at the time of such statement. At the end of his official 
term he shall settle with the said board of education, and pay to his successor in 
office, to the credit of the said board, all moneys remaining in his hands subject 
to its Order. 

§ 187 The board of education may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in its 
corporate name, upon the official bond of the city chamberlain or treasurer of the 
board for any default, delinquency or official misconduct in relation to the collec- 
tion, safekeeping and payment of any money in this title mentioned. 

§ 188 The said board of education shall have the power and it shall be its 
duty : 

1 To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said school 
district, including the common schools and high school now existing therein, as 
it shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolhouses and rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 
and to fence and improve them. 

3 Upon the lots and sites owned by said board of education, to build, enlarge, 
alter, improve and repair schoolhouses, outhouses, and appurtenances, as it may 
deem advisable; and to borrow money for any of such purposes, and to make 
and issue certificates of indebtedness or other obligations therefor, which shall 
be binding upon said school district ; said money shall be borrowed and said cer- 
tificates or obligations issued therefor, only in anticipation of the collection of the 
school tax, and for amounts actually contained, or to be contained, in the school 
tax, for the year in which such certificates or obligations are issued, and payable 
out of such tax. Such certificates or obligations shall be due and payable at any 
stated time within five years from the date of issue, and with the money realized 
from the collection of such tax. (As amended by L. ipi2, ch. 438.) 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for 
pupils (save as hereinbefore provided), furniture and appendages, and to pro- 
vide fuel for the schools, pay the necessary insurance on buildings and school 
property and to defray contingent expenses of the school library. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses and all school prop- 
erty belonging to said district, and to see that the ordinances of the board in 
relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with, examine, license and employ all teachers in said schools 
for such term or terms of years of service as it may deem advisable for the best 
interests of the several schools, and at its pleasure remove them. {As amended 
by L. ipoQ, ch. 250.) 



EDUCATION CODE I43 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the money appropriated and pro- 
vided by law, or by this act, for the support of common schools in said district. 

8 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the 
annual salary of its officers. 

9 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management of 
the schools of said district, and, from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify and 
repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, 
government and instruction, and for the reception of the pupils and their transfer 
from one class to another, or from one school to another, and generally for their 
good order, prosperity and utility. 

10 To sell any of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property 
now or hereafter belonging to the district, when authorized to do so by a majority 
vote at any regular or special election of the voters of the district, upon such 
terms as the board shall deem most advantageous ; and the proceeds of all sales 
shall be paid to the treasurer and shall be by said board of education expended 
in the purchase, repairs or improvements of schoolhouses, sites or appurtenances, 
furniture or apparatus. 

§ 189 Whenever in the opinion of the board of education it shall become ad- 
visable to erect any school building, the estimated cost of which shall exceed ten 
thousand dollars, it shall cause an estimate of the cost of such building to be 
made, and shall cause the question of raising the amount required by tax to be 
submitted to the decision of the voters of the school district, in such manner as 
it deems best calculated to procure a fair expression from said voters. In case 
the tax shall be voted, the same may be raised by instalments, the amount of 
which, and the times of payment, shall be left optional with the board of edu- 
cation. 

§ 190 The academy or high school, connected with the school system contem- 
plated by this act, shall be recognized as one of the academies of this State, sub- 
ject to the visitation of the Regents, and shall be entitled to participate 'in the 
distribution of the income of the literature fund and other funds in the same man- 
ner and upon the same conditions as the other academies of the State; and the 
Regents of The University of the State of New York shall pay annually to the 
board of education of Ithaca the distributive share of the said funds to which 
the said academy or high school shall be entitled. 

§ 191 Said board of education shall make reports annually to the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction and at such other times as he may request. 

§ 192 The State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion State 
school moneys to the city of Ithaca in the same manner as to the other cities of 
this State. The treasurer of Tompkins county shall, upon the draft ~of the treas- 
urer of the board of education, pay annually to him the sum thus certified as due 
the said school district. 

§ 193 The schools organized under this act shall be free to all pupils between 
the ages of 5 and 21 years who are actual residents of said school district. The 
board of education shall decide all questions of residence arising under this sec- 
tion. The said board may allow the children of nonresidents to attend the schools 



144 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of said district, and shall prescribe the rates of tuition of such nonresidents, pay- 
able always in advance. 

§ 194 The said board of education shall be the trustees of the school district 
library of said district, and all the provisions of law which are now in force or 
hereafter may be passed, relative to school district libraries, shall apply to said 
board of education in the same manner as if it were trustees of a school district. 
It shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys, appro- 
priated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries, which is herein 
-onferred on the inhabitants of school districts, and it shall have the power to 
purchase, exchange, repair or dispose of any books or other property of said 
library, or cause it to be done, and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other 
books or apparatus ; also, to provide suitable rooms and furniture for said library, 
and further it may appropriate for the benefit of said library, out of the moneys 
annually raised in said district by the school tax, an amount not exceeding two 
hundred and fifty dollars, in addition to the library money received from the 
State. 

§ 195 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, furniture, books, and all other school 
property now, or hereafter belonging to the school district of the city of Ithaca, 
or to the board of education of the city of Ithaca, is and shall be vested in the 
board of education of the city of Ithaca; and the same while used or appropri- 
ated for school purposes shall not be levied on or sold by virtue of any warrant 
or execution or other process, nor be subject to taxation for any purpose what- 
ever ; and the said board of education of the city of Ithaca, in its corporate capac- 
ity, shall be competent to take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, 
transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest or devise, for the use of the common 
schools or academy of said school district, whether the same be transferred in 
terms to said board of education by its proper style or by any other designation, 
or by any person or persons, or corporation, for the use of said schools or acad- 
emy. (As amended' by L. 1912, ch. 438.) 

§ 196 It shall be the duty of the board of education between the ist and 15th 
days of October of each year, to prepare and pubHsh in one or more of the news- 
papers printed in the city of Ithaca, a true and correct statement of the receipts 
and disbursements under the provisions of this act, for the preceding year ending 
August 31st, in which account shall be stated under appropriate heads: 

1 The money raised by the board of education and received by the treasurer 
for its use. 

2 The school moneys received by its treasurer from the county treasurer. 

3 All other moneys received by its said treasurer subject to the order of the 
board of education, specifying, the sources from which they shall have been 
derived. 

4 The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, specify- 
ing the amount under each head of expenditures, and the person or persons to 
whom the money has been paid except such lists of persons as have already been 
published. 



EDUCATION CODE I45 

5 Such Other information as said board shall deem proper in regard to the con- 
dition of the schools under its care. 

§ 197 It shall be the duty of the clerk of the city immediately after the elec- 
tion or appointment of any person to any office mentioned in this title, personally 
or in writing to notify him of his election or appointment, and any person who, 
without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein shall forfeit the sum of ten 
dollars ; and every person so elected or appointed, and not having refused to ac- 
cept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of said office shall forfeit the sum 
of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the duty of said board 
of education forthwith to prosecute for all forfeitures and penalties under this 
title when voluntary payment is refused; and to apply all money when received 
to the purpose of education in said district. All officers mentioned in this title 
shall be deemed public officers within the intent and meaning of the public offi- 
cers law and the Penal Code, and as such liable to the penalties therein pre- 
scribed, in addition to the penalty in this section before provided. 

§ 198 The board of education may, when it shall deem it advisable, appoint a 
superintendent of schools for the said school district, who may ex officio be sec- 
retary of said board. He shall be under the direction of the board of education, 
and it shall prescribe his general duties. In addition to such other duties as may 
be devolved upon him by the board in the visitation and superintendence of the 
schools he shall examine the qualification of teachers, and grant certificates in 
such manner and form as may be prescribed by the State Commissioner of Edu- 
cation, which shall not be in force longer than a year, and which may at any time 
be revoked by the board of education. He shall be paid a salary out of the gen- 
eral fund, to be fixed by the board of education, and may be removed from office 
by the vote of a majority of all the members of the board. 

§ 199 All former or existing acts, or parts of acts, conflicting or inconsistent 
with the provisions of this title, are hereby repealed, so far as they affect this 
title, but nothing in this title shall be so construed as to limit, restrain or annul 
the powers of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. In all matters of dis- 
pute which shall be referred to him by appeal, and which shall arise under and 
by virtue of this title, or under and by virtue of any other act which is now, or 
shall hereafter be applicable to the schools, school officers or school property of 
or in said district, his decision or orders shall be final and binding. 



Section 208 provides that a vacancy in the office of commissioner of education 
shall be filled by the board of education. 



JAMESTOWN 

Chapter 279, Laws of 1887 * 

An act to establish and define the territory and boundaries of the union free 
school district of the city of Jamestown and to regulate the supervision 
and control of said district 

Section i The school district heretofore known as union free school district 
number i of the town of Ellicott in the county of Chautauqua, shall hereafter 
be known and designated as the union free school district of the city of James- 
town, and the territory and boundaries of the said city of Jamestown shall be 
and constitute the territory and boundaries of the said school district. When- 
ever the boundaries of said city of Jamestown shall be changed or altered, the 
act making such change or alteration shall be construed to change the boundaries 
of said school district so that at all times the boundaries and territory of said 
city and of said school district shall be the same. 

§ 2 The supervision and control of said union free school district shall be 
and remain in the existing board of education of the said district and their 
successors in office; and the title to all school sites and property in the territory 
by this act annexed to said district, shall be vested in the said board of education 
the same as school sites and property now in said district. The annual school 
meeting of said district shall be held at the same time fixed by the general 
school law in this State for other union free school districts and the election 
of members of the board of education thereof, shall be had on the day succeed- 
ing the annual school meeting, as heretofore. No change shall be made in the 
management, direction or supervision of said school district, including the rais- 
ing, assessment and levying of taxes, or in the election or time of election, 
appointment or time of appointment, of any officer or officers thereof, by reason 
of the boundaries of said school district corresponding with the boundaries of 
said city. The said union free school district shall be subject to all the pro- 
visions of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, entitled, " An act to revise and 
consolidate the general acts relating to public instruction," and the several acts 
amendatory thereof and supplemental thereto, which are applicable to union 
free school districts whose limits do not correspond with the limits of an in- 
corporated village or city, except so far as such provisions are inconsistent 
herewith; and provided further, that nothing herein contained shall be con- 
strued to repeal the provisions of the charter of the city of Jamestown, making 
the treasurer of said city the collector of said school district, and prescribing 
the manner in which the taxes thereof shall be collected. 

§ 3 The board of education of said school district shall have power to appoint 
a superintendent of common schools of said city, who shall hold his office for 
the term of three years, unless sooner discharged by said board, at an annual salary 

[146] 



EDUCATION CODE 1 47 

fixed by said board of education. Such superintendent shall have, under the con- 
trol of the said board of education, the general supervision of all the common 
schools within the said city, with authority to license all teachers employed in the 
common schools thereof, and to perform generally all duties now imposed by law 
upon commissioners of common schools. Whenever such superintendent shall be 
appointed, the said district shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of 
section 6 of title 3 of chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, and the amendments 
thereto. 

§ 4 Chapter 441 of the Laws of 1877, is hereby repealed. 

§ 5 This act shall take effect on the loth day of August, 1887. 



JOHNSTOWN 

Chapter 593, Laws of 1905 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Johnstown 

ARTICLE X 

BOARD OF EDUCATION; SCHOOLS 
Section 220 City as school district 

221 The board of education; corporate powers 

222 Succession to property and obligations 

223 Annual election of school officers 

224 Annual meeting of the board of education 

225 Clerk of board of education 

226 Meetings of board of education 

227 Rules ; quorum ; voting 

228 Vacancies in board of education 

229 General powers and duties of the board of education 

230 Records of board as evidence 

231 Determination of amount of annual school tax levy 

232 Fees and proceedings of chamberlain in collecting school taxes 

233 Chamberlain authorized to borrow moneys for current expenses 

234 School funds to be disbursed upon warrants of the board of education 

235 Annual settlement with chamberlain 

236 Special school elections 

237 Report of municipal bonds 

238 Annual report of the board of education 

239 Common council to pass necessary school ordinances 

240 Right to vote for school commissioner 

241 Fiscal and official school years 

Section 220 City as school district. The city of Johnstown shall constitute 
a union free school district, which shall be known as " the union free school 
district of the city of Johnstown." 

§ 221 The board of education; corporate powers. All public schools of 
the city of Johnstown shall continue to be under the management and control 
of a board of nine members, to be elected as hereinafter provided, who shall 
constitute and be known by the name of " the board of education of the city 
of Johnstown," and said board of education is hereby constituted a body cor- 
porate, in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon it by this act 
or by any general law, and may sue and be sued by the corporate name afore- 
said, and shall have a corporate seal. It may take and hold for the use of said 
schools or of any department of the same, any real estate transferred to it by 
gift, grant, bequest or devise or any gift, legacy or annuity of whatever kind, 
given or bequeathed to said board, and apply the same or the interest or proceeds 
thereof according to the instructions of the donor or testator. 

§ 222 Succession to property and obligations. The title to all real estate 

[148] 



EDUCATION CODE • I49 

and personal property formerly belonging to the union free school district 
number 4, of the town of Johnstown, New York, and to common school district 
number 5, of the town of Johnstown, New York, and heretofore vested in the 
board of education of the city of Johnstown, shall continue to be vested in such 
board, and all moneys and funds belonging to each of said districts heretofore 
paid over and delivered to the chamberlain of said city shall continue to be 
credited by him to the school fund of said city. All the rights, powers, privileges, 
contracts, obligations and liabilities of said union free school district number 4, 
and the said school district number 5, have heretofore been transferred to, vested 
in and imposed upon said board of education of the city of Johnstown; and 
the rights and privileges of all persons that may have arisen or accrued prior 
to May 9, 1895, shall remain and be enforced by or against the board of educa- 
tion of the city ®f Johnscown and its successors, in the same manner and with 
like effect as the same might have been enforced by or against the board of 
education of union free school district number 4, and said school district 
number 5, subject, however, to the provisions of this act. 

§ 223 Annual election of school officers. The annual election for school 
officers in said city shall be held on the first Tuesday of August in each year, 
and there shall be elected each year at such election three members of the board 
of education of said city for a term of three years each, and other members, 
to fill such vacancies as may have occurred during the preceding year, for the 
unexpired terms of those members whose offices may have become vacant. 
The board of education shall give notice of each annual election for members 
of said board, by notice signed by its president and clerk ; which notice shall 
be published in the official newspapers of said city at least once each week for 
two successive weeks immediately preceding such election; said notice shall 
designate the polling places at which such annual election shall be held, and the 
wards of the city for which each polling place shall serve, and the officers to 
be elected thereat, together with the terms for which they are to serve respectively. 
The board of education shall designate at least two polling places for each 
annual election in said city, which shall not be in the same ward, and shall 
not be held in any school building, and the particular wards for which each 
polling place shall serve. The inspectors of the election district in which such 
election shall be held, shall preside and conduct such annual election at the 
places designated by the board. The clerk of the board of education shall each 
year, at least ten days before the date of such annual election, notify such inspect- 
ors by notice mailed to each of them in the post office of said city, of every such 
election and of the polling places designated by the board ; said elections shall be 
opened at each polling place at ten o'clock in the forenoon, and shall be kept open 
without intermission or adjournment until four o'clock in the afternoon, when 
the same shall be closed, and the inspectors shall forthwith, without intermission 
or adjournment, canvass all votes cast, declare and make a statement of the 
result and shall forthwith file such statement of the result with the clerk of 
the board of education of said city, together with the list of persons so voting 
or offering to vote at said election. Every inhabitant of said city, who at the 



150 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

time and place of offering his or her vote, shall be qualified to vote for school 
officers under the general laws of this State relating to public schools, shall be 
entitled to vote at such elections, but no such inhabitant shall vote at any polling 
place except that designated by the board of education, for the ward in which he 
or she shall reside at the time of offering such vote, and shall have so resided 
for at least thirty days immediately prior to such election. On the day following 
each annual school election in said city, the board of education shall convene 
at seven o'clock in the afternoon at its usual place of meeting, as designated by 
said board, and all the statements of the votes cast at each of the polling places, 
designated as aforesaid, shall be produced; the board of education shall forth- 
with declare the result and make a certificate in writing of all those who were 
duly elected, and file the same with the clerk of said board, and shall immediately 
file a duplicate thereof, signed by the president and clerk in the office of the 
clerk of said city. The clerk of the board shall imediately ^ notify, by mail, 
each person declared elected of his election. The persons so elected shall, before 
the annual meeting of the board of education, as herein provided, take the 
official oath required by section 19 of this act and file the same in the office 
of the clerk of the city. 

§ 224 Annual meeting of the board of education. The annual meeting of 
the board of education shall be held, at a place to be designated by such board, 
on the second Tuesday of August in each year, at half past seven o'clock in 
the evening. At each such annual meeting the board of education, as constituted 
for the preceding year, shall be dissolved, and the board of education, composed 
of the persons elected at the annual school election, and those whose terms of 
office shall not have expired, shall then be organized by the election of one of 
their number as president of the board and some suitable person as clerk. 

§ 225 Clerk of board of education. The board of education shall fix the 
compensation to be paid to the clerk of the board, and may remove him at 
pleasure. He shall keep a record of the proceedings of the board and perform 
such other duties as the board shall prescribe. 

§ 226 Meetings of the board of education. The board of education shall 
hold regular meetings at least once in each month at such time and place as the 
board shall designate. The president of the board or any three members may 
call a special meeting of the board by causing a written notice thereof specify- 
ing the objects of the meeting to be served by the clerk upon each member of 
the board, not joining in such notice, personally, or by mail, directed to his 
place of residence or place of business, at least twenty-four hours before the 
time of such meeting. AH the meetings of the board of education shall be public, 
except when the public interest shall require secrecy; but no vote shall be taken 
in secret or executive session. 

§ 227 Rules; quorum; voting. The board of education may adopt rules for 
its own government, and for the regulation and exercise of its lawful business 
and powers. It shall be the judge of the election and qualification of its own 

^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE I5I 

members. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum 
for the transaction of business. A majority of the members present and voting 
at any meeting of the board at which a quorum shall be present shall be 
sufficient to pass any resolution, except that no resolution authorizing or involving 
the expenditure of money or collection of money by a tax or assessment shall 
pass unless it receive the assent of a majority of all the members in office, and 
except as otherwise provided by this act. At all meetings of the board each 
member shall have one vote. The ayes and noes shall be called and recorded 
on all resolutions. 

§ 228 Vacancies in board of education. Any vacancy in the board of educa- 
tion occurring otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled by appoint- 
ment by such board. If such vacancy occurs in the official school year prior 
to the time for publishing the notice of the annual school election, the person 
appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold office until the end of the official school 
year in which such vacancy occurs. If the vacancy occurs in the official school 
year subsequent to the time for publishing the notice of the annual school election, 
and the term of office of the member vacating his office extends beyond the end 
of the current official school year, the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall 
hold office until the end of the next official school year. If the term of office of 
the member vacating his office continues beyond the official school year in which 
such vacancy occurs, and such vacancy occurs prior to the time for publishing 
the notice of the annual school election, a person shall be elected at the next 
annual school election after the occurring of such vacancy to fill such vacancy for 
the remainder of the unexpired term. 

§ 229 General powers and duties of the board of education. The board of 
education of the city of Johnstown, subject to the provisions of this act, shall 
have power and it shall be their duty : 

1 To establish, organize and maintain such and so many schools in said city, 
including the common schools and high schools now existing therein, as said 
board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to alter or discontinue the same, 
in their discretion. 

2 To purchase or hire, sell or dispose of schoolhouses, lots or sites, as they may 
deem advisable. 

3 To erect, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances as they 
may deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, sell, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages and defray the necessary expenses thereof; provide 
fuel for the schools ; to keep buildings and school property insured in such amounts 
as they may deem proper; and to pay the necessary premiums therefor, and to 
pay the contingent expenses of the school library. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of school property belonging to said 
district and to see that the ordinances of the common council in relation thereto 
are observed. 

6 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers and at their pleasure 



152 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

remove them, subject to the provisions of law and the rules and regulations 
estabhshed by the Department of Public Instruction of this State. 

7 To pay the wages of teachers out of any money provided or apropriated ^ 
by law for that purpose. 

8 To employ a superintendent of instruction for said city, to remove him at 
their pleasure, and to fix and pay a salary out of any money provided for that 
purpose; and said superintendent may be appointed clerk of the board and 
librarian, or either, in the discretion of the board. 

9 To pay the necessary contingent expenses of the board and of the said 
district, including the wages of clerk, janitors and other assistants and employees. 

10 To license teachers employed in the schools of said city, in the same manner 
and with like efifect in said city, as school commissioners of counties. 

1 1 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, where the owner or owners of them shall not consent to sell the 
same for such purposes, or the board of education can not agree with such owner 
or owners or some of them upon the price or value thereof, by condemnation pro- 
ceedings under the provisions of the condemnation law, chapter 23 of the Code 
of Civil Procedure. 

12 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction of this State, the entire supervision and manage- 
ment of the schools in said city, and from time to time to adopt, modify or repeal, 
as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their reorganization, 
government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from 
one schoolroom or house to another, for their advancement, from class to class 
as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of 
the good order and prosperity of said schools. 

13 To allow the children of persons not residents within the city to attend 
any of the schools therein, under the control of said board, upon such terms and 
conditions as said board may by resolution prescribe. 

14 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

15 Except as otherwise provided in this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by the general laws of this State, 
applicable to boards of education in cities. 

16 To establish and maintain a library and provide rooms for the use of the 
same, and to employ a librarian to have the care of the books and other publica- 
tions belonging thereto, and to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition 
of the moneys provided by law for the purchase of libraries, as is conferred upon 
the inhabitants of school districts. 

17 To transfer to the city of Johnstown real property held by them which has 
ceased to be used for school purposes. 

§ 230 Records of board as evidence. The records and proceedings of said 
board, or a transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received 
in all courts and places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 1 53 

§ 231 Determination of amount of annual school tax levy. On or before 
the 1st day of July, in each year, the said board of education shall prepare a 
certificate of such sums of money as it may deem necessary for each of the 
following purposes, namely : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying all the public 
school and other moneys applicable thereto. 

2 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses, and grounds with their apendages ^ 
and appurtances. 

3 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

4 For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes. 

5 For the purchase, maintenance and care of the library. 

6 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay the contingent expenses of 
the district, including the salaries of the clerk, librarian, janitors and incidental 
expenses. 

Such certificate shall be presented to the mayor or acting mayor of said city, 
and, if he approves, he shall sign it and immediately file the same with the city 
clerk; if he does not approve any item therein, he shall, within five days, return 
the same to the president or clerk of said board of education, with his objections 
indorsed thereon or annexed thereto. The board of education may then proceed 
to reconsider said certificates, and, if two-thirds of all the members then in office 
agree to pass the same, it shall take effect the same as if it had been approved 
by the mayor, and it shall be immediately filed with the city clerk. In case 
two-thirds of said members do not agree to pass the same, they shall thereupon 
present another certificate, conforming, as nearly as may be, to the views of the 
mayor as expressed in his objections, and, if he approves it, he shall sign the 
same, but if he does not approve any item thereof he shall, within twenty-four 
hours, return the same with his objections as before. The board of education 
shall continue to present certificates as aforesaid until the mayor's approval is 
obtained, or until two-thirds of its members agree to pass the same over his 
objections, and said certificate when this^ approved or passed shall be filed with 
the city clerk. Upon the filing of said certificate so approved or adopted it shall 
be the duty of the common council of said city to raise, by tax to be levied upon 
all the real and personal property in said city as by law provided for the levynig 
of State and county charges, such sum or sums as said board of education shall 
so certify. For this purpose the common council shall cause to be prepared 
duplicate copies of the assessment roll filed by the assessor for the levying of 
State and county taxes for the current fiscal year, and shall cause the amount 
authorized to be raised for school purposes as aforesaid to be rated and assessed 
upon the property of each person, company, corporation or association appearing 
on said assessment rolls. When said common council shall have completed and 
approved said assessment roll, they shall attach to one copy thereof a warrant 
under the hands and seals of the mayor and a majority of the aldermen in office, 



* So in the original. 



154 -THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

commanding the chamberlain to receive and collect said taxes in the same manner 
as taxes laid by said city for State and county purposes, and the same shall be 
delivered with the other copy roll to the city clerk. The city clerk shall attach 
a copy warrant to the other copy roll and a receipt for the chamberlain, and shall 
deliver said tax roll and warrant to the chamberlain and take his receipt therefor. 
Said tax, when collected, shall be credited by the chamberlain to the various 
school funds as designated in said certificate. 

§ 232 Fees and proceedings of chamberlain in collecting school taxes. 
Upon receiving said roll the chamberlain shall give notice in the official papers 
of the city, of the receipt by him of such assessment roll and warrant, and that 
all persons named therein are required to pay their taxes at his office within 
thirty days next ensuing; within said thirty days such taxes may be paid and 
shall be received without aditional ^ charge, for fifteen days thereafter two 
per centum fees shall be collected and thereafter five per centum fees shall be 
collected. If any such tax shall remain unpaid at the expiration of said thirty 
days, the chamberlain shall serve notice upon every person from whom such tax 
is due requiring said tax to be paid within fifteen days thereafter, which notice 
shall be served in the manner and with the like efifect as provided in section 96 
of this act for the collection of State and county taxes. At the expiration of the 
time mentioned in said notice it shall be the duty of the chamberlain to proceed 
with the collection of the school taxes then remaining unpaid in the same manner 
as provided in section 97 of this act for the collection of State and county taxes, 
except that the warrants issued by him shall be returnable on or before the ist day 
of December. All other proceedings in reference to the collection of the school 
taxes of said city shall be had in accordance with the provisions of this act with 
reference to the collection of State and county taxes. 

§ 233 Chamberlain authorized to borrow moneys for current expenses. 
Whenever any such sum or sums to be raised for school purposes shall have been 
so certified, approved and filed with the city clerk, the city chamberlain shall have 
authority and it shall be his duty under the direction of said board to borrow 
upon the faith and credit of said city so much of the amount so certified as may 
be deemed by said board to be actually necessary to meet the current expenses 
of said district, and the amount so borrowed shall be repaid from the moneys 
raised by said annual tax levy. Whenever the moneys so raised for school pur- 
poses, or any particular fund thereof, shall be exhausted, it shall be the duty of 
the city chamberlain to certify such fact to the board of education, and the board 
of education shall thereupon immediately prepare and present to the mayor a 
certificate of such sum or sums of money as will be required until the next annual 
tax levy as above provided; and the said certificate, after approval by the mayor 
or adoption by the board in the manner hereinbefore provided, shall be filed with 
the city clerk, and the city chamberlain shall have authority to borrow upon the 
faith and credit of the city, the amount so certified, and to place the same to 
the credit of the school moneys of said board of education or the particular fund 

* So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE * 1 55 

for which the same was raised, and pay the same out to meet the warrants of 
the board of education. Any amount so borrowed shall be included in the next 
annual tax levy for the schools of said city. 

§ 234 School funds to be disbursed upon warrants of the board of education. 
All public moneys or funds belonging to or appropriated to the use of said district 
shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, who shall keep the same separate 
from the general funds of the city, and shall credit to each of said school funds 
the moneys or property belonging thereto. The board of education shall disburse 
all the funds of said district by warrants upon the chamberlain, signed by the 
president of said board and countersigned by the clerk. Said warrants shall be 
numbered consecutively and shall specify the purpose for which they are drawn, 
the person to whom payable and the particular school fund to which they are 
chargeable. The clerk shall keep a record of every such warrant. Upon request 
from said board the chamberlain shall certify from time to time the various 
balances remaining to the credit of any or all of said funds. All accounts and 
claims against said school district or the board of education of whatever nature 
shall be presented to said board for audit. It shall be the duty of said board of 
education to inquire and examine into said claims and accounts, and they may 
take proofs on oath in relation thereto and audit the same. The board may pre- 
scribe the form of affidavit to be sworn to and annexed to all bills and claims 
against said district or board. 

§ 235 Annual settlement with chamberlain. The board of education shall 
annually in the month of December in each year examine the accounts of the 
city chamberlain with reference to the school funds and certify their correctness, 
if found to be correct, and report the result of their examination to the common 
council. At the expiration of the term of office of any chamberlain or im- 
mediately prior thereto, said board shall have a settlement with the chamberlain 
for all school funds that may have come into his hands, and shall certify to the 
common council all funds remaining in the hands of said chamberlain or due from 
him for or on account thereof and which shall be delivered to his successor in 
office. 

§ 236 Special school elections. When the board of education shall deter- 
mine by resolution that it is necessary to purchase any site, erect any school build- 
ing, or enlarge any school building already erected, it shall specify in such reso- 
lution the ward within which such site is to be purchased, or building erected or 
enlarged, and the particular sum required for each separately. They shall then 
call a special school election in said city in the same manner as is provided in this 
act for the calling of special elections by the common council. Such special 
school elections may be held at the same time and with any other election in said 
city. The clerk of the board of education shall notify the inspectors of the hold- 
ing of said special school election in the same manner and within the same time 
that the city clerk is required to notify them in cases of special elections called by 
the common council. The inspectors shall thereupon proceed to hold such elec- 
tion pursuant to such resolution, and in the same manner as in holding other 
special elections under this act, and the qualifications of the electors thereat shall 



156 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

be determined by the general school law of the state applicable to cities. When 
such special school election is not held at the same time and with a city or school 
election, or a special election called by the common council as provided in this act, 
the board of education shall designate the polling places as at other school elec- 
tions and such special school election shall be held by the same inspectors as under 
a like designation for an annual school election and during the same hours and 
in the same manner. Each elector at every such special school election shall vote 
only at the polling place designated for the ward in which he resides, and shall 
have resided for the thirty days immediately prior to said special school election. 
The vote shall be taken by ballot, which shall be indorsed *' school proposition," 
and shall be deposited in a separate ballot box provided therefor, and marked 
" school proposition." The board of education shall at every such special school 
election provide sufficient printed ballots for the use of the electors thereat upon 
which shall be printed the several items or objects to be voted for thereat with 
the words " for " and " against " at the beginning of each item. Each elector 
shall indicate his vote as to each of said items by erasing or drawing a mark 
through the one or the other of said words. The inspector shall canvass said 
votes without intermission or adjournment, as at other elections, and make a 
statement thereof in respect to each item voted upon and immediately file the 
same with the clerk of the board of education. Upon the day following such 
special school election the board of education shall convene at its usual place of 
meeting at seven o'clock in the evening, and the statement from each polling place 
shall be produced, and the board of education shall forthwith declare and make 
a certificate in writing of the result. In case a majority of the votes cast be in 
favor of any of said propositions the chamberlain shall have authority under the 
direction of the board o.f education to borrow upon the faith and credit of said 
city the aggregate of the items having such majority or any part thereof at any 
time before and until the same can be levied and collected according to law. The 
moneys so borrowed shall be deposited with the chamberlain. Whenever the 
board of education shall deem it inexpedient to raise the amount so voted at the 
next annual school tax levy, they shall make a certificate to that effect and file the 
same in the office of the city clerk. Such certificate shall state the amount to 
be raised and included in the next annual tax levy and the amount to be bor- 
rowed as hereinafter provided. And upon the filing of such certificate the said 
board of education shall have power to borrow upon the faith and credit of the 
city so much of the sum voted as is not to be included in the next annual school 
tax levy at a rate of interest not exceeding five per centum per annum, and to 
issue bonds or other evidences of indebtedness therefor, payable in instalments 
in not more than thirty years from the date thereof, which shall be a charge upon 
said city and be paid at maturity, and which shall not be sold below par. Said 
bonds or other evidences of indebtedness shall be prepared by the board of edu- 
cation, signed by the president and clerk thereof, and delivered to the chamber- 
lain of said city, who shall countersign the same and give due notice of the time 
and place of the sale of such bonds by publishing such notice once in each week 



EDUCATION CODE 1 57 

for at least two weeks prior thereto, in the official newspapers of said city. {As 
amended by L. ipio, ch. 660.) 

§ 237 Report of municipal bonds. The board of education annuallyv on or 
before the ist day of July in each year, shall report to the city clerk for record 
therein as required by sections 9 and 10 of the general municipal law, a full de- 
scription of the amount, rate of interest, class, number, date of issue, pursuant to 
what law, and maturity of all bonds issued by the board of education or any of 
its officers, and of all bonds converted from coupon into registered bonds. When- 
ever any of such bonds are paid and canceled a proper certificate of the facts 
shall be made and filed for record with the city clerk. 

§ 238 Annual report of the board of education. It shall be the duty of the 
board of education on or before the 15th day of July in each year to make to the 
common council and file with the city clerk a detailed report of the manner in 
which it shall have expended the moneys provided for and appropriated to school 
purposes from any source during the last fiscal year of said board, and such re- 
port shall be published forthwith by said board of education in the official news- 
papers of said city. 

§ 239 Common council to pass necessary school ordinances. The common 
council of the city of Johnstown sliall have the power and it shall be its duty to 
pass such ordinances as the board of education of said city shall report as neces- 
sary for the protection, safekeeping, care and preservation of the school build- 
ings and other property of said district and to impose such penalties for the vio- 
lation of the same as it shall deem proper. 

§ 240 Right to vote for school commissioner. The electors of the city of 
Johnstown shall have the same right as is now possessed by the electors of the 
several towns of Fulton county to vote for school commissioner for the county 
of Fulton, notwithstanding any provisions of this act. 

§ 241 Fiscal and official school years. The fiscal year of said board of 
education shall commence on the ist day of July in each year. The official school 
year shall commence on the second Tuesday in August in each year. 

ARTICLE II 

§ 10 City officers. The elective officers of the city shall be a mayor, a re- 
corder, a chamberlain, an assessor, nine members of the board of education, one 
alderman-at-large, and one water commissioner-at-large ; and two aldermen, one 
water commissioner 'and one supervisor for each ward. The appointive officers 
of said city shall be a city clerk, a superintendent of streets, a superintendent of 
water works, a city attorney, a city engineer, a city physician who shall also be 
the health officer of the city, a commissioner of charities, a city board of health 
consistmg of 'six members, an inspector of plumbing, a chief engineer of the fire 
department, and a first assistant and second assistant engineer of the fire depart- 
ment, a chief of police and not to exceed four regular uniformed policemen, and 
such other special policemen as are hereinafter provided for, and not to exceed 
ten commissioners of deeds, and such other appointive officers as may be author- 
ized by general laws. 



158 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ II Manner of choosing city officers. The mayor, recorder, chamberlain, 
assessor, members of the board of education, alderman-at-large and water com- 
missioner-at-large shall be elected by ballot by the qualified electors of the city. 
The aldermen and water commissioner and supervisor for each ward shall be 
elected by ballot by the qualified electors thereof. The city clerk shall be ap- 
pointed by the common council and the board of water commissioners in joint 
session. The superintendent of streets shall be appointed by the common council. 
The superintendent of water works shall be appointed by the board of water com- 
missioners. The city attorney, the city engineer, and the city physician shall each 
be appointed by the mayor subject to the confirmation of the common council. 
The commissioner of charities shall be appointed by the mayor. The members 
of the board of health shall be appointed by the common council upon the nomi- 
nation of the mayor in the manner and for the terms prescribed by article three of 
the public health law. The chief engineer of the fire department, the first assistant 
and the second assistant engineer of the fire department, the chief of police, po- 
licemen and special policemen shall be appointed as hereinafter provided. The 
commissioners of deeds shall be appointed by the common council from time to 
time as may be deemed necessary. Appointments for a full term, in any official 
year in which appointments are to be made for such term, shall be made as fol- 
lows : if by the mayor, at the first meeting of the common council in such year ; 
if by the common council, at its first meeting in such year; if by the mayor with 
the confirmation of the common council, at such first meeting or at a time not 
later than the 14th day of January to which such meeting shall have been ad- 
journed; if by the common council and the board of water commissioners acting 
jointly, the appointment shall be made at a joint session of such bodies to be held 
on the 1st day of January in such official year or, in case such day falls on Sun- 
day, on the next day thereafter. The inspector of plumbing shall be appointed 
by the board of health of the city on or before the 15th day of January. Except 
as otherwise provided in this act no appointment for a full term shall be made 
at a time other than as above prescribed. Appointments to fill vacancies shall be 
made as provided in section 23 of this act. (As amended by L. ipio, ch. 660.) 
§ 12 Terms of office. The term of office of the mayor, recorder, chamber- 
lain, assessor, aldermen and alderman-at-large, water commissioners and water 
commissioner-at-large, supervisors, chief engineer of the fire department, and 
commissioners of deeds shall be two years. The term of office of the members 
of the board of education shall be three years. The term of office of the city 
clerk, city attorney, city engineer and of the city physician and health officer shall 
be one year until January 15, 1912, and on and after that date shall be two years. 
The term of office of the superintendent of streets, superintendent of waterworks, 
the first assistant engineer and second assistant engineer of the fire department 
shall be one year. The commissioner of charities, the chief of police and each 
of the four regular uniformed policemen shall serve for a term which shall ex- 
pire with the expiration of the term of office of the mayor. {As amended by L. 
ipio, ch. 660.) 



EDUCATION CODE 1 59 

§ 13 Commencement and expiration of terms of office. The term of office 
of each elective officer shall commence with the ist day of January succeeding 
his election. The term of office of each appointive officer, except the commis- 
sioner of charities, the chief of poHce, and each of the four regular uniformed 
policemen, shall commence with the 15th day of January of the official year in 
which the appointment is required to be made. The term of office of the com- 
missioner of charities, of the chief of police, and of each of the four regular 
uniformed policemen shall commence on the first day of January of such year. 
Each city officer shall hold over after the expiration of his term and until his 
successor is chosen and has qualified. The term of office of the supervisors 
shall commence and expire at the same time as the terms of supervisors of the 
towns of the county of Fulton. (As amended by L. 19 lO, ch. 660.) 

§ 14 Eligibility, No person shall be eligible to a city office unless at the 
time of his election or appointment he is a resident elector of the city, except 
that the city engineer need not reside therein; and if elected by a ward of said 
city, unless at the time of his election he is also a resident of the ward for which 
he shall be elected. If a city officer shall cease to be a resident of the city his office 
shall thereupon become vacant. If a city officer elected by a ward of the city shall 
cease to be a resident of such ward, his office shall thereupon become vacant. A 
recorder hereafter elected shall at the time of his election have been admitted to 
practice in this State as an attorney at law for a period of three years. No 
person shall at the same time hold more than one office under this act except 
as otherwise provided therein. But a commissioner of deeds may also hold 
any other city office, and one of the supervisors of the city may be appointed as 
commissioner of charities. 

§ 15 City elections. A general city election shall be held annually on the 
Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday in November at the time and at the 
places fixed for holding the general election. There shall be elected 
at each general city election successors to all elective city and ward 
officers whose terms will expire before the date of the next general election, and 
vacancies in elective offices shall be filled at such election as hereinafter authorized. 
Such election shall be conducted, and the votes cast thereat canvassed by the in- 
spectors^ and the returns thereof made, in the manner provided by the election 
law. Except as hereinafter otherwise provided, the election law shall apply to 
and govern all elections in said city. 

§ 16 Canvass of votes by common council. The common council shall meet 
as a board of city canvassers on the next Monday after each annual city election. 
The city clerk shall present to the common council at such meeting the certified 
statements of the results of such election in the several election districts of the 
city, as delivered to him by the inspectors of election. The common council shall 
canvass such certified statements and determine and declare the whole number 
of votes cast for all the candidates for each office to be filled at such election, the 
number of votes cast for each such candidate, and what person was elected 
thereto. The persons having the greatest number of votes for the respective 
offices to be filled by the whole city, and those having the greatest number of 



l60 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

votes for the offices to be filled by the several wards shall be declared duly elected, 
and the common council shall thereupon make duplicate certificates in writing 
of all those who were duly elected at said election, to the various offices voted 
for at said election, one of which certificates shall be filed with the city clerk 
and the other with the clerk of Fulton county. Such canvass shall be made 
so far as practicable in the same manner as a canvass by a county board of can- 
vassers, and the provisions of the election law relating to a canvass by a county 
board of canvassers shall apply to a canvass by the common council. 

§ 17 Certificates of appointment. All appointments to city offices made as 
prescribed in this act shall be evidenced by a certificate in writing, signed by 
the appointing officer, and filed forthwith in the office of the city clerk. If an 
appointment be made by the common council, the board of water commissioners, 
or the common council and the board of water commissioners acting jointly, 
such certificate shall be signed by the officer presiding at the time the appoint- 
ment was made, and attested by the city clerk. 

§ 18 Notice to persons elected or appointed. The city clerk shall give 
notice, in writing, to every person elected or appointed to any office under this 
act of his election or appointment, within twenty-four hours after the certificate 
of his election or appointment has been filed in his office, which notice shall be 
served personally or by leaving it at the residence of such person. 

§ 19 Official oaths. Every city officer shall, before he enters upon the duties 
of his office, take and file his official oath in accordance with article 13 of the 
constitution and section 10 of the 'public officers law, and for an omission so to 
do, he shall be subject to the liabilities and penalties prescribed by section 1820 
of the penal law, and sections 13, 15 and 30 of the public officers law. The 
mayor, city clerk, recorder and each commissioner of deeds shall before he is 
qualified to administer oaths and take and certify affidavits and acknowledg- 
ments, take and subscribe the constitutional oath of office before the clerk of 
the county of Fulton. {As amended by L. ipio, ch. 660.) 

§ 20 Official bonds. The city clerk, city engineer, commissioner of charities, 
recorder, chief of police, and each regular uniformed policeman, shall, before 
he enters upon the duties of his office, execute and file an official bond in ac- 
cordance with sections 11, 12 and 13 of the public officers law; and for an 
omission so to do he shall be subject to the penalties and liabilities prescribed 
by section 1820 of the penal law, and sections 13, 15 and 30 of the public officers 
law. Except as herein otherwise provided, the penal sum named in any such 
bond, or the sum specified in any such undertaking as the maximum amount of 
liability thereon shall be fixed by the common council. (As amended by L. 
19 10, ch. 660.) 

§ 21 Compensation of city officers. The annual salary of the recorder shall 
be eight hundred dollars ; of the chamberlain, one thousand dollars, which shall 
include all expenses incurred by him for clerk hire or clerical assistance ; of the 
city clerk, eight hundred dollars ; of the city attorney, eight hundred dollars ; of 
the city engineer, eight hundred dollars ; of the commissioner of charities, two 
hundred and forty dollars ; of the superintendent of streets, eight hundred dol- 



EDUCATION CODE l6l 

lars ; of the superintendent of water works, eight hundred dollars ; of the city 
physician, two hundred dollars for his services as city physician, and one hundred 
dollars for his services as health officer. The assessor shall be entitled to com- 
pensation at the rate of three dollars per day, while actually engaged in the per- 
formance of his duties, but not exceeding a total compensation of four hundred 
and fifty dollars for his services in any one year. The supervisor of each ward 
shall be entitled to the same compensation for his services as the supervisor of 
a town is entitled to receive for like services. The inspectors of election shall 
receive the compensation provided by law, or such compensation as the common 
council may fix, not exceeding, however, the compensation fixed by general laws. 
No other city officer shall be entitled to receive from said city any compensation 
for his services unless otherwise provided by a general law or by this act. For 
the purpose of computing the compensation to which each officer is entitled his 
term of office shall be deemed to be the term of his actual service therein. The 
annual salaries as fixed by this section shall be payable in monthly instalments. 
Five hundred dollars of the salary of the chamberlain shall be paid by the com- 
mon council from the contingent fund, three hundred dollars thereof by the 
board of water commissioners from the water fund, and two hundred dollars 
thereof by the board of education from the school fund. One-half of the salary 
of the city clerk shall be paid by the common council from the contingent fund, 
and one-half shall be paid by the board of water commissioners. The salary of 
the city physician, both as city physician and health officer, and the salary of 
the commissioner of charities shall be paid from the poor fund. (As amended 
by L. igoj, ch. 42; L. ipio, ch. 661.) 

§ 22 Fees and perquisites. No city officer, except commissioners of deeds 
and city officers acting as commissioners of deeds, shall have or receive to his own 
use any perquisites, compensation or fees for services pertaining directly or 
indirectly, or which may hereafter be added, to the duties of his office, in addi- 
tion to his salary or compensation, unless otherwise provided in this act ; but any 
perquisite, compensation or fee legally chargeable for services performed by any 
such city officer shall be collected by him and paid into the city treasury to the 
credit of the contingent fund. 

§ 23 Vacancies. Except as otherwise provided in this act, if a vacancy shall 
occur otherwise than by expiration of term in an elective city office, the common 
council shall fill such vacancy. If a vacancy occurs in an elective office prior to 
the time within which nominations for a general city election must be filed, the 
person appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold office until the end of the official 
year in which such vacancy occurs. If a vacancy in an elective office occurs 
subsequent to the time within which nominations for a city office must be filed, 
the person appointed to fill such vacancy shall hold office until the end of the 
next official year, if the term of office of the officer vacating his office extends 
through such year. If the term of office of the officers vacating his office con- 
tinues beyond the official year in which said vacancy occurs and said vacancy 
occurs prior to the time within which nominations for a city office must be filed, 
a person shall be elected at the next annual city election after the occurring of 
6 



l62 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

such vacancy to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. A 
vacancy occuring in any appointive office of the city, otherwise than by expira- 
tion of term, shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term by the same 
authorities and in the same manner as an appointment for a full term. 

§ 25 Officers not to be interested in contracts or purchases. The mayor, 
or any member of the common council, board of water commissioners, board of 
education or board of health, or any superintendent, clerk, agent or employee 
of said city, or of any such boards, shall not be voluntarily intereste'd, directly or 
indirectly, beyond the compensation which he may be justly entitled to for serv- 
ices by him actually rendered as such officer, agent or employee, in any contract 
or work made or done by, for or on behalf of said city, or any municipal board 
therein; nor shall any such person be voluntarily interested, directly or indirectly, 
in the purchase or sale of any merchandise, material, substance or supplies for 
any of the uses or purposes of said city, nor shall any such person receive there- 
from or thereon, or in consideration, or in consequence thereof, any commis- 
sions, divisions, discounts, gift or moiety. The municipal board of said city shall 
not audit any account, or issue any warrant, for the payment of any claim for 
services rendered or for work, labor, or materials furnished by any person dur- 
ing the time such person shall have held the office of mayor, alderman, or member 
of a municipal board of said city. A violation of any of the provisions of this 
section is a misdemeanor. 

§ 26 Delivery of property, books and papers to successor. Each city officer 
shall upon the expiration of his term deliver to his successor in office all prop- 
erty, papers and effects of every description in his possession or under his con- 
trol belonging to the city, and appertaining to such office. If he shall fail to do 
so within five days after notification and request by his successor, he shall be 
liable to a penalty of one hundred dollars, to be recovered by the city in a civil 
action together with all damages caused by his neglect or refusal, and he may 
also be proceeded against as provided by section 1836 of the penal law. (As 
amended by L. ipio, ch. 660.) 



KINGSTON 

Chapter 494, Laws of 1902 

An act to amend chapter 747 of the Laws of 1896, entitled "An act to revise 
and consoHdate the several acts in relation to the city of Kingston, to revise the 
charter of said city and to establish a city court therein and define its jurisdic- 
tion and pov^^ers," and to establish a system of schools in said city. 

Section i Chapter 747 of the Laws of 1896, entitled "An act to revise and 
consolidate the several acts in relation to the city of Kingston, to revise the char- 
ter of said city, and to establish a city court therein and define its jurisdiction 
and powers," is hereby amended by the addition thereto of a new title to be 
known as title fifteen, to read as follows : 

TITLE XV 

SCHOOLS' 

Section 161 All the territory included within the boundaries of the city of 
Kingston shall hereafter constitute a separate school district within this State 
and shall be designated as " the school district of the city of Kingston." It 
may bear such other additional designation as the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of this State may by law prescribe. Such district shall be entitled to 
all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by 
law or other State authority upon school districts and shall be subject to all the 
rules, regulations, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law 
applicable to school districts, except as otherwise hereinafter provided. 

§ 162 The following named persons shall constitute the first board of educa- 
tion for the city of Kingston, each of whom shall hold office for the period of 
time designated herein, namely: Bernard Loughran to serve until the second 
Monday of January, 1903 ; W. Scott Gillespie, Conrad Hiltebrant, until the sec- 
ond Monday of January, 1904; Isaac N. Weiner, Henry R. Brigham, until the 
second Monday of January, 1905; Henry C. Connelly, Walter C. Dolson, until 
the second Monday of January, 1906 ; DuBois G. Atkins, Walter N. Gill, until 
the second Monday of January, 1907. The board of education as at present 
constituted is hereby continued and the present members of the board of educa- 
tion shall hold office until the expiration of their respective terms. Successors 
to the said members of the board of education now in office shall be appointed 
by the mayor on the first day of December next preceding the expiration of 
their respective terms. Such appointment to be for a term of five years to begin 
on the second Monday in January next following such appointment. The said 
trustees shall meet at the common council chamber, in said city, at eight o'clock 



' Sections 14, 15 and 16 provide for a board of education of nine members to be appointed 
by the mayor, 

■ [163] 



164 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

in the evening of the first Tuesday following the day when this act takes eflfect, 
and shall organize as a board, and shall provide and appoint a place for Its fur- 
ther meetings. Thereafter said board of education shall hold their annual meet- 
ing on the second Monday in January of each year, for the election of officers. 
They shall select by ballot from their number, a president and vice president; 
they shall appoint a suitable person, not a member of said board, clerk of the 
board of education. He shall also act as superintendent of schools of the city 
and perform the duties of supervision, and shall perform all such other duties 
as the board shall, from time to tim^e, direct, and shall be allowed such compen- 
sation as the said board may determine. He shall also examine and license, under 
the statute and the rules and regulations established by the State Superintendent 
of Public Instruction, teachers employed in the public schools in said city. The 
said president and vice president shall hold their office for one year and until 
their successors shall have been duly appointed. The said clerk shall hold his 
office during the pleasure of the board. The said board may employ a secre- 
taryj'and such clerical assistance as it shall deem proper, who shall perform such 
duties as the board may determine. The corporation counsel shall act as legal 
adviser of and counsel to said board. (As amended by L. ipii, ch. 617.) 

§ 163 The officers of the said board shall be : a president, a vice president, a 
clerk and a treasurer. The city treasurer shall be the treasurer of said board 
of education. The said meetings of said board shall be held at least once in 
each month. At each of the said meetings there shall be appointed one or more 
visiting committees whose duty it shall be to visit every school in the city at 
least once, and to report upon the condition and work of the schools at the next 
meeting of the board. A majority of trustees in office shall constitute a quorum 
of the board. 

§ 164 In case any vacancy shall occur in the office of trustee by reason of 
death, resignation, removal from the city or refusal to qualify or serve, or from 
any other cause, the mayor of the city of Kingston shall make an appointment 
to fill such vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold office for the unex- 
pired term of the person to supply whose place he shall be so appointed. {As 
amended by L. ipii, ch. 61^.) 

§ 165 The said board of education is hereby constituted the successor of the 
several boards of education, and of the trustees of the common school districts in 
the city of Kingston. All property both real and personal, now vested in and 
belonging to the said several boards of education, and" of the trustees of the 
said several school districts and in the said several school districts, shall pass 
to and become vested in the board of education, created by this act and there- 
upon the terms of office of all the members of the several boards of education 
and the terms of office of all the trustees of the said school districts and the 
various district officers of the said several school districts, residing in the city 
of Kingston, shall cease and expire. 

§ 166 A trustee duly appointed who declares that he will not accept or serve 
in the office of trustee, or who refuses or neglects to attend three successive stated 
meetings of the board without rendering a good and valid excuse therefor to the 
board, vacates his office by refusal to serve. (As amended by L. 191 1, ch. 617.) 



EDUCATION CODE 1 65 

§ 167 The trustees of the several school districts in the town and city oi 
Kingston, shall make out and deliver to the board of education hereby created 
at its first regular monthly meeting after the organization of said board here- 
inbefore mentioned, a detailed statement of their several districts showing all 
the school property, both personal and real, in their several school districts, 
and the estimated value thereof, the number of schoolhouses in their districts, 
the size thereof, and the materials of which the same are built, the departments 
into which the schools are divided and the average attendance of each school 
and department, the number and names of the teachers employed in each, their 
rank and the salaries paid to each, the amount of money in the hands of their 
collector and treasurer and of any other school officer, the balance on hand on 
the ist day of August last, the amount of money ordered to be raised at the 
last annual meeting of the district, and the purpose for which it was appropri- 
ated, the receipts and expenditures of' the said trustees since the ist day oi 
August last, the amount of money due and owing to the district, the amount 
of indebtedness of the district, and such other facts as they may deem neces- 
sary to make a full and complete statement of the condition of the schools in 
their several districts. 

§ 168 Neither the mayor nor any member of the common council shall hold 
the office of trustee under this act. 

§ 169 The several collectors and treasurers and other school officers in said 
town and city, having in their hands any school moneys belonging to their re- 
spective districts, shall also render to the said board of education, at its first 
regular monthly meeting after the organization of said board, a full and com- 
plete statement of their accounts since the preceding 31st day of July, together 
with their vouchers, which statements shall be verified by oath. Such accounts 
shall be audited by the said board of education, and on such auditing the said 
collectors and treasurers and other school oflicers, shall, upon order of the said 
board, pay over to the treasurer of the board of education in the city of Kings- 
ton, the sum found due from them, and upon such payment being made, the 
said board of education shall cancel and discharge the bonds given by the said 
officers respectively. 

§ 170 The said consolidated district shall be deemed and is hereby declared 
to be a union free school district, under the laws of this State relating to public 
instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond with any incorpo- 
rated village or city and the boards of education therein, and the corporate 
authority of such cities and villages, are made applicable to the school district 
hereby consolidated and established, and to the board of education thereof, and 
to -the corporate authorities of the city of Kingston. The said board of educa- 
tion shall, from time to time, as it shall deem expedient or necessary, make ad- 
ditions, alterations or improvements to, or in, the sites or structures belonging to 
the said district, purchase other sites or structures, erect new buildings, purchase 
apparatus and fixtures or other necessary property for the district as it shall de- 
termine. 



l66 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 171 The said board of education shall, on or before the ist day of Octo- 
ber in each year, make to the mayor and common council of the city of Kingston 
an annual report to the ist day of August next preceding, setting forth the 
number of children of each school under its charge, a statement of all the liabili- 
ties and expenses incurred, with all the disbursements made by it during the 
preceding year, and all other matters of interest relating to the schools. The 
common council shall cause said report to be published. 

§ 172 The said board shall, on or before the ist day of July in each year, 
determine by resolution the amount of money to be raised, which, when added to 
the money annually apportioned to the said schools in said city out of the funds 
belonging to the State, will, in its judgment, be necessary to support all the schools 
under its superintendence for the ensuing current year of said board beginning 
August 1st, and for the furtherance of any of the powers vested in it by law. 
The said resolution shall set forth in a detailed statement the various purposes of 
anticipated expenditure, and the amount necessary for each ; and a copy of such 
resolution shall be certified by the president and clerk of said board, under the seal 
of said board, and delivered to the mayor and council of said city on or before 
said time. The common council shall proceed to consider such estimate on or 
before the 15th day of July, but shall not reduce the amount thereof except in 
case of an apparent error therein, or in case such total estimate shall exceed one 
per centum of the property valuation of the preceding complete assessment roll 
liable for taxation for such purposes. If the common council and the mayor 
approve such estimate, and resolution, the same shall be filed with the city clerk 
on or before the 20th day of July ; if the mayor or the common council reduces or 
revises such estimate as aforesaid, the same, with the changes, objections or cor- 
rections of the mayor or common council, indorsed thereon or annexed thereto, 
shall be returned to the president or clerk of the board of education within two 
days and then said board shall proceed to reconsider said estimate and resolution, 
and if two-thirds of all the members then in office agree to sustain the estimate as 
originally made and certified, it shall stand as if it had been approved by the 
mayor and common council, but if two-thirds of the members of said board do 
not agree to sustain the statement as made, it shall be modified so as to conform 
to the views expressed by the mayor or common council in such objections; and 
the same shall be filed with the city clerk on or before the 20th day of July, with a 
copy of all resolutions in reference thereto certified by the president and clerk of 
the board. The common council shall annually levy and collect the amount so 
determined as aforesaid. The city clerk, under the direction of the common coun- 
cil, shall extend and apportion said tax on the assessment roll dehvered to him 
as provided by section 32-a of this act, as among the owners of property taxable 
for such purpose on said roll in proportion to the value therein stated, and said 
clerk shall make a duplicate of said roll with the taxes so extended, and certify 
such copy to be a correct duplicate roll of school taxes ; and any expense incurred 
in connection therewith shall be paid by the board of education; and said roll 
shall be delivered to the treasurer of said city with a warrant annexed under the 



EDUCATION CODE 167 

seal of the city, and signed by the mayor and the city clerk, on or before the ist 
day of August, or as soon thereafter as practicable, commanding said treasurer to 
receive, levy and collect the several sums in the roll specified as assessed against 
the persons or property therein mentioned or described, with such percentage of 
penalty, interest and fees as is in this act provided. Upon the delivery to the city 
treasurer of said school tax roll and warrant, he shall publish the notice required 
by section 126 of this act, and comply with all the provisions of said section, 
and said treasurer, and the assessor and the collector of unpaid taxes and as- 
sessments and the city clerk, shall comply with all the provisions of sections 126 
to 143, inclusive, of this act in reference to them respectively; and all of the 
provisions of said sections shall be applicable and prevail as to the collection 
of said taxes and as to all subsequent actions and proceedings in reference 
thereto. Whenever the aforementioned assessments are valid, and the col- 
lector is unable to collect the full amount of his warrant, the common council 
shall supply and cause to be transferred from the general fund to the school 
fund the amount uncollected ; and if such uncollected taxes shall be subse- 
quently collected the same shall be deposited to the credit of the general fund. 
(As amended by L. ipij, ch. 611.) 

§ 173 The city treasurer shall keep a separate account of all school moneys 
received by him, whether from State authorities, local taxation, or any other 
source, and shall pay out the same only upon warrants signed by'^the president and 
clerk of said board of education. Such warrants shall be drawn only by the 
authority of the board of education, and only as the said money shall be actually 
needed for disbursement. The city of Kingston shall be responsible to the board 
of education for the faithful performance by the city treasurer of the duties of 
the treasurer of the said board of education. {As amended by L. 1915, ch. 611.) 

§ 174 The said board shall make suitable and proper provision respecting 
security to be given by the officers under said board for the faithful perform- 
ance of their respective duties. Any interest or income on the moneys in the 
hands of the city treasurer to the credit of said board shall go to the credit of 
said board, and such treasurer shall receive no compensation other than his 
salary as city treasurer. He shall render to said board of education in writing. 
and as often as it shall require, statements, reports and information concerning 
the moneys and funds in his hands, and the interest and income thereon. 

§ 175 On or before the 15th day of September in each year the common coun- 
cil shall cause to be paid to the treasurer of said board of education, the balance 
of all moneys which shall have been levied by tax in said city in the current year 
for school purposes. The words " current year " as used in this section, designate 
the term from the ist day of x\ugust in any year, to the ist day of August in the 
next succeeding year. {As amended by L. 191 5, ch. 611.) 

§ 176 The board of education shall provide suitable textbooks for indigent 
pupils, and accommodations and facilities for the proper instruction of the 
children of such city, and shall have entire and exclusive charge and control 
of the public schools of the city of Kingston, subject to the powers of super- 
vision, and direction vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



l68 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

The board of education may provide suitable textbooks for any or all grades 
of pupils in the schools of said city. The said board of education may make 
all necessary by-laws for its own government, except as hereip otherwise pro- 
vided. The said board of education and said schools shall be subject to the 
laws relating to union free schools, and the general statutes of the State relating 
to schools. The said board of education shall be entitled to its proportion of 
the State moneys for the public schools of said city of Kingston, which shall 
be apportioned by the State Superintendent in accordance with the provisions of 
law, and shall be paid direct to the treasurer of the said board of education 
and shall be by him deposited to the credit of the said board of education. It 
shall have charge of the school libraries, and make all necessary and proper 
regulations concerning the same, and may impose fines for abuse of books; 
and any person incurring fines shall be liable to an action for the same by the 
board of education, and the amount received shall be applied to the use of the 
library from which the book was taken, and it may appropriate for the benefit 
of said libraries, out of moneys annually raised in the said city by the school 
tax, an amount not exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars in addition to the 
library money received from the State. It shall have the power to appoint 
librarians. (As amended by L. igo^, ch. 562.) 

§ 177 The said board of education is hereby constituted a body corporate by 
the name of board of education of the city of Kingston, and may sue and be 
sued as such and shall have a corporate seal to be designed by the said board of 
education. {As amended by L. 190^, ch. 562.) 

§ 178 The services of the board of education designated by this act shall be 
gratuitous. 

§ 179 Whenever said board of education shall have determined by resolu-, 
tion an amount of money to be raised for new site or sites, building or buildings, 
and furniture and fixtures therefor, or for repairs or improvements to buildings 
or grounds, which sum shall in any one year exceed the sum of five thousand 
dollars, the common council, instead of raising the same by tax or refusing to 
raise the same, in its discretion, by resolution to be certified by the mayor and 
city clerk under the corporate seal of the city, and delivered to said board of 
education, may authorize such board of education to borrow such sum or such 
part thereof as the common council may determine. Such loan shall be evi- 
denced by the bond or bonds of the city of Kingston, of such denominations as 
the said comrnon council shall determine, which bonds shall be conditioned that 
the city of Kingston will pay the principal named therein and interest; and shall 
bear interest not exceeding the legal rate per annum, payable semiannually 
and be payable in such sums in each year as the common council shall determine, 
and shall be signed by the mayor and city clerk of Kingston, and sealed with 
the corporate seal of said city, and a record thereof shall be kept in the city 
clerk's office. The bonds so issued shall be delivered to said board of education 
and shall not be negotiable until signed by the president and clerk of said board, 
and sealed with its corporate seal, and the amount realized from the sale thereof 



EDUCATION CODE i6q 

shall be paid to the city treasurer, and the par value of said bonds shall be 
placed by the city treasurer to the credit of the said board of education, and 
will be drawn only on warrants of said board of education and only for the 
purposes for which such loan shall have been authorized. The common council 
of the city of Kingston shall annually raise by tax, and as a part of the school 
moneys, the amount of money necessary to pay the interest annually accruing 
upon such bonds and the principal falling due and payable in each year. The 
said board of education shall certify annually by and in the resolution hereto- 
fore referred to in section 172, the amount of money necessary to be raised 
by tax to pay the interest on such bonds and the principal of such bonds falling 
due in any ensuing year. 

§ 180 If at any time after the passage of the resolution provided in section 
173, the said board of education shall determine that more money is needed for 
any of the purposes mentioned in said section 172, the said board may by reso- 
lution determine the amount so needed and certify said determination to the 
common council of said city, and in that case the said common council shall 
have the power to authorize the issue of bonds in such denomination and pay- 
able at such times as the said common council shall determine. Said bonds 
shall be signed by the mayor and city clerk and sealed with the corporate seal 
of said city, and a record thereof kept in the city clerk's office. The bonds so 
issued shall be delivered to said board of education and shall not be negotiable 
until signed by the president and clerk of said board, and sealed with its cor- 
porate seal; and the amount reaHzed from the sale thereof shall be paid to the 
city treasurer, and the par value of said bonds shall be placed by the city treas- 
urer to the credit of the said board of education, and be drawn only on war- 
rants of said board of education and only for the purposes for which such loan 
shall have been authorized. The common council of the city of Kingston shall 
raise annually by tax, and as a part of the school moneys the amount of money 
necessary to pay the interest annually accruing upon such bonds and the princi- 
pal falling due and payable in each year. The said board of education shall 
annually certify by and in the resolution named in section 172, the amount of 
money necessary to be raised by tax to pay the interest on such bonds and the 
principal of such bonds falling due in any ensuing year. 

§ 181 All such parts or portions of existing school districts not wholly wnthin 
the boundaries of the city of Kingston shall continue and remain as independent 
and separate school districts as though this act had not been passed, until they may 
be annexed to such adjoining districts as the Superintendent of Public Instruc- 
tion of this State, or the school commissioner of the first commissioner district 
of Ulster county may designate. And the board of education of the city of 
Kingston shall, upon the passage by such districts of a resolution directing their 
trustees to contract with said city for the education of their pupils therein, enter 
into a contract wuth the trustee or trustees of such districts for the education 
in the schools of said city of all pupils residing in such territory at a rate of 
compensation not. however, to exceed the average cost per pupil for the main- 



170 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

tenance of the school system in the city of Kingston, exclusive of any appropri- 
ations for the purchase of new sites, erections or repairs or buildings therein. 

§ 2 Section 124 of chapter 747 of the Laws of 1896, as amended by chapter 
159 of the Laws of 1900 is hereby further amended so as to read as follows : 

§ 124 The common council may raise by tax upon the real and personal 
property assessable in said city at such time in each year: 

8 The amounts required by law to be raised for the board of health ; the ex- 
amining board of plumbers ; the board of education ; and for election expenses. 
(As amended by L. ipoy, ch. /04; L. ipog, chapters 55^, 5(5/; L. 1911, ch. 
61/; L. igij, ch. 611.) 

§ 14 The appointive officers of said city shall be . . . nine members of the 
board of education, . . . 

§ 15 The . . . members of the board of education . . . shall be appointed by 
the mayor. ... . , 

§ 18 If a vacancy happens in any city office including members of the board of 
education, and except those named in the preceding section, it shall be filled as 
follows : In elective offices, except that of mayor and of alderman-at-large, and in 
appointive offices, except that of deputy clerk, by appointment for the residue of 
the term by the mayor. . . . Appointments at the expiration of a term shall be 
for the full term herein provided, and in other cases for the residue of the term. 

§ 19 A person shall not be elected or appointed to any city office unless he be a 
resident elector of said city, nor to any ward, district or department office unless 
he be a resident elector of the ward, district or department for which he is elected 
or appointed, and whenever any officer of said city ceases to be a resident of 
said city or ward, district or department, for which he is elected or appointed his 
office shall thereby become vacant. . . . 

§ 20 The resignation of any officer elected or appointed under this act, in- 
cluding members of the board of education, and except mayors, alderman-at-large, 
and deputy clerk, shall be presented to the mayor in writing, and shall be effective 
when accepted by him and filed with the city clerk. . . . 

§ 21 Each officer of the city shall, before he enters upon the duties of his office, 
take and file his official oath, in accordance with article 13 of the constitution, and 
section 10 of the public officers law, and for omission so to do be shall be subject 
to the liability and penalties prescribed by section 1820 of the penal law, and 
sections 13, 15 and 30 of the public officers law. . . . 



LACKAWANNA 

Chapter 574, Laws of 1909 
An act to incorporate the city of Lackawanna 

TITLE VII 

SCHOOLS 

Section 150 School districts. The territory included within the boundaries 
of the city of Lackawanna shall remain in the several school districts as they 
exist at the time of the passage of this act. Such school districts shall be entitled 
to all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred 
by law upon school districts, and shall be subject to all the rules and regula- 
tions, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable 
to school districts throughout the State except as otherwise provided by this 
act. The jurisdiction, powers and duties of the superintendent of schools and 
the attendance officers appointed by the board of education of the school district 
lying wholly within the corporate limits of the city, known as district number 
6, in respect to the enforcement of the provisions of article 20 of the Educa- 
tion Law, relating to compulsory education, shall extend to and be exercised 
over the entire territory included within the boundaries of the city of Lacka- 
wanna. (As amended by L. ipio, ch. 491.) 

§ 151 School officers. The officers of the several school districts and parts 
of districts included within or partly within the boundaries of the city of Lacka- 
wanna shall be the same as now provided by law and shall possess the same 
power and be subject to the same duties and liabilities, except that the city 
treasurer shall be the collector and treasurer for the district known as district 
number 6 lying wholly within the limits of the city, and he shall be the custodian 
of all such moneys, and also such moneys as shall be paid to him by the county 
treasurer or other official of the county or State, and also all moneys received 
from tuition, and all other receipts whatsoever. He shall keep a separate account 
with such district, keeping each fund separate as directed by the school authori- 
ties so to do, and shall pay out said moneys only upon warrants issued by the sev- 
eral school district officers as directed by law. Such district lying wholly within 
the city shall have no other collector or treasurer than the city treasurer. The 
school commissioner of the second school commissioner district of the county of 
Erie shall have no jurisdiction, and he shall perform no duties in respect to that 
portion of the city which is comprised within the limits of the district known as 
district number 6. (As amended by L. ipio, ch. 491.) 

§ 152 School moneys apportioned. The county treasurer shall pay over to 
the treasurer of the city of Lackawanna for the use of the school district lying 
wholly within the corporate limits of the city -known as district number 6, such 
proportion of the school, library and other public moneys apportioned to the 

[171I 



172 , THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

said district by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for teachers' wages, 
Hbraries or other purposes as shall by law be apportioned to the said district. 

§ 153 School districts. All that territory now in the town of West Seneca 
and in the town of East Hamburg and in the town of Hamburg now constitut- 
ing and known as school district number 5 shall not be deemed in any wise 
affected by this chapter. The said district shall possess the same powers and 
privileges, and be subject to the same liabilities as other school districts in towns, 
except that the superintendent of schools and the attendance officers of dis- 
trict number 6 shall perform their duties and have jurisdiction in respect to the 
enforcement of the provisions of article 20 of the Education Eaw, relating to 
compulsory education, in that portion of said district number 5, towns of West 
Seneca, Hamburg and East Hamburg, which lies within the boundaries of the 
city. (As amended by L. iQio, ch. 4pi.) 



LITTLE FALLS » 

Chapter 565, Laws of 1895 

ARTICLE III 

Section 42 The board of education. The schoo] commissioners of the city of 
Little Falls shall also be school commissioners of the union free school district of 
the city of Little Falls and shall constitute the board of education of the city 
of Little Falls and the board of education of the union free school district of the 
city of Little Falls. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall apportion 
the State school moneys to the city of Little Falls, in the same manner as to 
cities having special school acts and for that purpose this act shall be deemed a 
special school act, within the meaning of the Consolidated School Law. 

§ 5 City as school district. The city of Little Falls shall constitute a union 
free school district, which shall be known as " the union free school district of 
the city of Little Falls." 

§ II Elective city officers enumerated; their terms of office and compen- 
sation. The elective officers of the city to be elected by the city at large shall be 
. . . three school commissioners, the term of office of each of whom shall be 
three years, and who shall receive no compensation for their services ; . . . 
(As amended by L. i8p8, ch. ipp; L. igoi, ch. 470.) 

§ 14 Appointive city officers enumerated; by whom appointed. The ap- 
pointive officers of said city shall be . . . three school commissioners, 
. All appointments of school commissioners, . . . shall be so made 
that each of the four boards constituted by such commissioners respectively shall 
be non-partisan or bi-partisan ; that is to say, so that when each commissioner so 
appointed enters upon his office, the board of Avhich he thereb}- becomes a mem- 
ber shall be composed of an equal number of representatives of each of the two 
principal political parties casting the highest and next highest number of votes, 
respectively, at the next preceding general election. (As amended by L. i8p6, 
ch. 75.) 

§ 15 Terms of office of appointive officers. The term of office of . . 
of each appointive school commissioner, three years ; . . . (As amended by 
L. ipoi, ch. 4/0.) 

§ 54 Annual report and estimates by boards and officers to the mayor. 
. . . the board of education shall . . . deliver to the mayor on or before 
the fifteenth day of March in each year a report of all expenditures made or in- 
curred by such board during the preceding fiscal year, showing separately and by 
items the amount expended from each fund which may be drawn on by such 
board, the balance at the end of such year standing to the credit of each such 
fund ; the amount which in the judgment of said board will need to be expended 
during the current fiscal year from such fund, with the items thereof and the 
reasons therefor so far as practicable, and the amount and condition of all trust 
funds held by them . . . (A's amended by L. i8p6, ch. 13.) 



^ The provisions of the Education Law apply to this city. 

[173I 



LOCKPORT 

Chapter 51, Laws of 1847 

An act in relation to common schools in the village of Lockport 

Section i All the territory embraced in primary school districts numbers i, 2, 
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, as now constituted, which lies within the boundaries of the city 
of Lockport, and all other territory within the boundaries of said city, are hereby 
consolidated for the purpose and to the extent in this act specified ; and shall 
hereafter, to such extent, form but one school district, to be called the union 
school district of the city of Lockport. Such parts of any of said primary 
(districts as now bounded, as are outside the boundaries of said city, shall be 
annexed to adjoining districts in the town of Lockport. {As amended by L. 1866, 
ch. 278.) 

§ 2 Said seven school districts shall remain and continue separate and distinct, 
for the purposes and to the extent in this act specified ; and shall be called " pri- 
mary school districts," and numbered as follows: said district number i, shall 
form primary district number i ; said district number 2. shall form primary dis- 
trict number 2 ; said district number 7, shall form primary district number 3 ; 
said district number 15, shall form primary district number 4; said district number 
8. shall form primary district number 5 ; said district number 16, shall form pri- 
mary district number 6; and said district number 5, shall form primary district 
num.ber 7. Said districts shall not be subject to alteration except by the acts 
of the Legislature, or by resolution of the board of education hereinafter created. 
The schools in said primary districts, shall be used as preparatory schools for 
the instruction of children until they arrive at a certain age, and attain a certain 
proficiency in learning; who shall then be transferred, upon the proper testimon- 
ials, into the union school hereinafter mentioned ; the age, qualifications and 
testimonials, to be prescribed by the by-laws, rules arid regulations of the board 
of education hereinafter created. 

§ 3 Sullivan Caverno, residing in primary district number i ; William G. 
M'Master, residing in primary district number 2 ; Joseph T. Bellah, residing in 
primary district number 3 ; Silas H. Marks, residing in primary district number 
4; Isaac C. Colton. residing in primar}^ district number 5 ; John S. Wolcott, resid- 
ing in prirqary district number 6; and Edvv^in L. Boardman, residing in primary 
district number 7, are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of such districts re- 
spectively ; and Nathan Dayton, Samuel Works, Jonathan L. Woods, Lyman A. 
Spalding and Hiram Gardner are hereby appointed trustees in behalf of said 
union district. The trustees so named, and their successors, to be chosen as 
hereinafter provided, are hereby constituted a corporation by the name of " The 
board of education for the city of Lockport." {As amended by L. 1866, ch. 3/8,) 

§ 4 On the first Saturday of September next there shall be elected by each 
primary district, one trustee, who shall be a resident of such primary district, to 

[i74i 



EDUCATION CODE 1 75 

fill the places of those named in the last section, in behalf of such districts re- 
spectively* On the first Saturday of October next, there shall be elected in said 
union district five trustees, residents of said union district, to fill the places of 
those named in the last section, in behalf of said union district. Annually there- 
after, on the days specified for such elections, there shall, in said districts and 
union district, be elected four trustees, to fill the places of those whose terms 
shall next thereafter expire, as hereinafter provided. The trustees named in the 
chird section above shall hold their offices until the first Monday of January next, 
and until their successors shall be chosen and enter upon the discharge of their 
offices respectively. Every officer elected under this act shall enter upon the 
duties of his ofiice on the first Monday of January next succeeding his election, 
and shall hold his office for the term hereinafter provided, and until his successor 
shall be elected and enter upon the duties of his office. All elections under this 
act for primary district trustees shall be held at public and convenient places in 
the several districts, and the board of education shall, at their first regular meet- 
ing after the ist day of May, 1873, by resolution, designate and appoint such 
places, and shall publish such resolution, for three successive publications, in each 
of the daily newspapers published in the city of Lockport, and the places so 
designated shall be and continue the places for the holding of such election, until 
changed by said board of education, and all changes therein shall be published 
by said board as aforesaid. At all such elections of trustees in the several 
primary districts, the polls of such election shall be opened at the hour of eleven 
D'clock in the forenoon, and remain open for the reception of ballots until the 
lour of eight o'clock in the afternoon, when the polls shall be closed. At all 
=^lections of trustees in and for said union district, the board of education may 
designate two convenient polling places ; one whereof shall be for male voters 
;nly, and the other for female voters only ; and no vote shall be offered b} a 
/oter or received by any election officer, at any such election, except at the polling 
place provided for voters of the same sex as the person offering the vote. Until 
changed by the board of education, the polling place for male voters shall be at 
the Intermediate School building, on Chestnut street, in said city, and the polling 
place for female voters shall be at the Union School building, on East avenue, 
in said city. The board of education may change such polling places when 
necessary in its judgment, and all changes thereof shall be published by the 
board of education, as in the case of primary district polling places. The polls 
of the union district elections shall be opened at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and 
remain open for the reception of ballots, until the hour of eight o'clock in the 
evening, when the polls shall be closed. The office of clerk of the union district 
and 'each of said primary districts is hereby aboHshed. The president of the 
board of education shall, at least one week before each of said election days, 
appoint two reputable resident freeholders of the city of Lockport, to be chairman 
and clerk of the poll respectively, at and for each polling place at such election. 
Each person so appointed or who shall be elected to either of said offices, as 
hereinafter provided, before he acts as such officer, shall take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath of office, and the same shall be filed in the office of the board 



176 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of education. It shall be the duty of the chairman and clerk so appointed to 
attend at the proper time, at the polling place for which they were appointed, 
and open the poll, and keep the same open as herein provided, and receive the bal- 
lots offered by the voters at such poll, and keep a poll list, in writing, showing the 
names and residences of the several voters, and all challenges of voters ; and 
immediately upon the closing of the poll to proceed and count the votes cast, and 
thereupon publicly proclaim the true result of the balloting, and make their cer- 
tificate in writing thereof, and to file the same, together with said poll list, and 
all of the ballots cast at said polling place at such election, in the office of the 
board of education, within forty-eight hours after the closing of the poll. Such 
ballots shall be carefully kept by said board for one year next after such election. 
The board of education shall attend at the office of the board on the second 
business day, next after any election of trustees, under this act, at half past seven 
o'clock in the evening, and proceed to canvass the votes for trustees, as the same 
shall have been certified by the election officers of the several polls, and shall 
ascertain and declare the result of the election, declaring as elected in each such 
district that person, otherwise qualified, who received the greatest number of 
votes cast in such district, as shown by such certificate. In the event of a failure 
to elect a trustee in any district, by reason of a tie vote or otherwise, the board 
of education shall, at the meeting when such canvass is made, order a special 
election 'for such district, to be held not less than ten nor more than fifteen days 
from the date of the preceding election in such district, and shall cause a 
notice of such special election to be published in each of the daily 
papers published in said city, on three successive days. The board of 
education shall have power to fill vacancies in the office of trustee for 
any period less than one year, otherwise a special election must be held as herein- 
before provided. There shall be entered in the records of the board a statement 
of the number of votes cast for each candidate at every such election, and the 
name or names of the trustees elected. The laws of the state to school district 
meetings and qualifications of voters thereat shall apply to such elections so far 
as not inconsistent with this act. Each chairman and clerk of the polls, for all 
his services in and about the election, down to and including the filing of the cer- 
tificate of result and poll list, shall be paid as follows : For each primary district 
election, three dollars ; for each union district election, five dollars ; the same to 
be deemed contingent expenses, payable from the union district moneys. In case 
of the absence of the chairman or clerk of the poll from any polling place at any 
such election, the qualified voters present thereat shall elect one of their number 
to fill the vacancy until such absent officer shall appear. (As amended by L. 187s, 
chapters 234, 623; L. 1890, ch. 215; L. 1897, ^h. 402; L. 1900, ch. 152; L. ipio, 
ch. 466.) 

§ 5 Within ten days after the first election of trustees of said union district, 
as provided by the last section, all the trustees so elected by said primary and 
union districts, or a majority of them, shall meet and cause the whole number 
of trustees so elected, to be divided into three classes, to be severally numbered 
first, second and third. The term of office of the first class shall expire at the 



EDUCATION CODE V/'J 

end of one year ; of the second class at the end of two years ; of the third class 
at the end of three years, from the first Monday of January next. The term of 
office of said primary and union district trustees shall thereafter be three years. 
{^As amended by L. iSgy, ch. 402.) 

§ 6 There shall annually be appointed, by said board of education, a collector 
and treasurer of said union district, who shall each, within ten days after receiv- 
ing notice in writing of his appointment, and before entering upon the duties of 
his office, execute and deliver to said board of education a bond, in such penalty 
and with such sureties as said board may require, conditioned for the faithful 
discharge of the duties of his office. In case such bond shall not be given within 
ten days after receiving such notice, such office shall thereby become vacated, and 
■ said board of education shall thereupon m.ake an appointment to supply such 
vacancy. 

§ 7 Notices for annual elections and all other meetings of said districts, shall 
be given by said board of education, at least ten days before such election or 
meeting, by publishing such notice once in each of the newspapers printed in the 
village of Lockport ; and if such notice be for an election or meeting of said 
union district, by posting the same on the door of the schoolhouse in each primary 
district ; if such notice be for an election or meeting of any primary district, then 
by posting such notice on the door of the schoolhouse in such district. 

§ 8 In case of a vacancy of any office mentioned in this act, occasioned by the 
death of such officer, his refusal to serve, removal out of the district for which 
he shall have been elected or appointed, his incapacity, or any cause other than 
the expiration of the term of office of persons elected, said board of education 
may make an appointment to fill such vacancy. The officer so appointed shall 
hold his office for the unexpired term of the person to supply whose place he 
shall be so appointed. 

§ 9 Said board of education shall be a corporate body, in relation to all the 
powers and duties conferred upon them by virtue of the provisions of this act; 
a majority of the board shall form a quorum. 

§ 10 Said board of education shall possess all the powers and be subject to all 
the duties, in respect to all of said school districts, that the trustees of common 
schools now possess or are subject to, and such other powers and duties as are 
given or ii?iposed by this act. The clerk, collector and librarian of said union 
district shall possess all the powers and be subject to all the duties, in respect to 
said union district, that like officers of common schools now possess or are subject 
to, and such other powers and duties as are given or imposed by this act. (Also 
abolished collector, librarian and two trustees in each primary district.) 

§ II Said board of education shall, at its first meeting, and annually thereafter, 
at their meeting held next after the ist of January in each year, appoint one of 
their number president and another secretary. In the absence of either of such 
officers at any regular meeting of the board, a president or secretary may be ap- 
pointed for the time being. 

§ 12- The secretary shall keep a record of the proceedings of said board of 
education, which record, or a transcript therefrom, certified by the president and 



178 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

secretary, shall be received in all the courts as presumptive evidence of the facts 
therein set forth. 

§ 13 Each member of said board of education, and every other officer of said 
union district, before entering upon the duties of his office, shall take and sub- 
scribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of this State, and file the 
same with the secretary of said board. 

§ 14 Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty : 

1 To establish and organize so many primary schools as they shall deem 
requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase or hire schoolhouses, rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses, and 
to fence and improve them as they may think proper. 

3 Upon such lots or sites, and upon any lot or site now owned by any primary . 
district, to build, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and 
appurtenances, as they may deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages : to provide fuel for the schools, and defray their contingent 
expenses, and the expenses of the library and the salary of the librarian ; and 
from and after the first Monday of September, 1896, to furnish, free of expense, 
to the pupils of the schools in said city, whose parents or guardians are residents 
of said city, such textbooks, stationery and supplies, as may be required in and 
about such studies as the board may from time to time determine ; and to so 
graduate the supply of such free textbooks, as to replace therewith such textbooks, 
in said studies, as are now used and owned by any of such pupils, or their parents, 
when the same shall become worn out, or their use be discontinued. All of said 
free textbooks, stationery and supplies shall be and remain the property of the 
board of education, who shall, from time to time, make such rules as they may 
deem necessary for the proper preservation, care and return thereof to the board. 
Said board, during the school year ending on the first Monday of September, 
1896, may borrow such sum of money as they may deem necessary to defray the 
expenses of furnishing such free textbooks, stationery and supplies, during the 
school term to begin on the first Monday of September, 1896, and include the 
sum so borrowed in the estimate to be made by them to the common council of 
said city in that year; and in each annual estimate hereafter made by the board, 
in addition to all other sums of money therein, there shall be included such 
sum as the board shall deem necessary for the purchase of free textbooks, 
stationery and supplies, for the then next ensuing year. (As amended by L. 
i8p6, ch. 161.) 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, appara- 
tus, books, furniture and appendages, and see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said board in relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with and employ all teachers in all the schools under their charge, 
and at their pleasure to remove them. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the public money and tuition fees 
to be received by them, according to the provisions of this act, so far as the 
same shall be sufficient, and the deficiency, if any, out of the moneys to be raised 



EDUCATION CODE 



79 



for general purposes of education under and by virtue of the provisions of this 
act. 

[Subdivisions 8 and 9, which relate to the old rate-bill system, are obsolete.] 

10 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision, management and 
control of all the schools mentioned or contemplated in and by the provisions of 
this act; to prescribe the course of studies therein, the books to be used, and 
establish an uniformity in respect to such course of studies and books ; from time 
to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they deem expedient, rules, regula- 
tions and ordinances for the organization, government and instruction of such 
schools, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, 
for the promotion of their good order, prosperity and public utility, for the 
protection, safekeeping, care and preservation of schoolhouses, lots, sites and 
appurtenances, and all other property connected with or appertaining to such 
schools. 

11 To cause such rules, regulations, ordinances and by-laws to be published 
in such manner and form as they may deem best calculated to give general infor- 
mation ; to cause one copy thereof, together with a copy of this act, to be kept in 
each of said schools ; and such parts thereof as relate to such schools, respectively, 
to be read therein at least once during each quarter. 

12 [Repealed by L. 1866, ch. 378.] 

§ 15 Said board of education shall, at the commencement of each year, make 
an estimate by the best means in their power, and determine by resolution the 
amount of money which will be needed for all the purposes of education in said 
union school district for the current year, and for all other purposes provided 
for by this act, over and above the moneys to be received from the Regents of 
the University, from the State and for tuition, and shall transmit a copy of said 
resolution to the common council of the city of Lockport, and said common 
council shall assess and collect the amount so certified, by a tax upon all the 
taxable property of said city, upon the assessment roll, and at the same time 
and in the same manner that city taxes are now required to be assessed and 
collected, and the amount so estimated and collected shall be paid by the city 
treasurer upon orders drawn in pursuance of resolutions of said board of educa- 
tion, such orders to be signed by the president of said board of education, and 
certified by its secretary. The amount of money so to be raised in any one year 
shall not be less than the amount received in behalf of all said districts from the 
State for the year next preceding, nor more than an amount equal to seven mills 
on each dollar of the entire assessed valuation of the estate, real and personal, 
within the bounds of the said union school district, subject to taxation, unless such 
greater amount shall be authorized by a vote of the taxable inhabitants of the 
said union district; and said board is hereby authorized, in making the estimate 
for the year 191 1, to include a sufficient amount to pay all expenses contemplated 
by the foregoing provisions, which shall accrue before the ist day of January, 
1912, and whenever any money shall be needed for the use of any primary or 
secondary district for any of the purposes contemplated by this act, said board of 
education shall estimate and certify the same to said common council, whose 



fSo THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

duty it shall be to assess and collect the same by tax on the taxable property of 
such primary or secondary district, in the same manner as above provided for 
the assessment and collection of the general tax, and the moneys so collected 
shall be paid on orders drawn as above provided and shall be applied for the 
benefit of the respective districts upon which the same shall have been assessed. 
(As amended by L. 1866, ch. 378; L. 1900, ch. 152; L. ipio, ch. spi.) 

§ 16 Said board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, 
forthwith to purchase a suitable lot so situated as best to convene the whole of 
said union district, not to exceed in cost the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars, 
and procure a clear title thereof, to be vested, by deed, in said board of education; 
to cause said lot to be graded, fenced and otherwise properly improved ; to erect 
thereon a suitable and proper building or buildings, to be built of stone or brick, 
not to exceed in expense the sum of eight thousand dollars, nor to cost less than 
five thousand dollars ; furnish the same with all proper, useful and necessary 
furniture, apparatus and appendages; as soon as the building is in proper con- 
dition, employ a sufficient number of well-qualified teachers, male and female, 
and cause a school to be commenced therein, to be called " the Lockport Union 
School," in which shall be taught only the higher branches of education. 

The tuition fee in said union school shall not exceed two dollars each per 
quarter for pupils whose parents or guardians reside within the territory of said 
union district; for all other pupils, said tuition fee shall not be less than two 
dollars nor more than five dollars per quarter. No tuition fee shall thereafter 
be charged, nor any rate bill be made, for tuition in the primary schools, but 
the same shall be free schools. 

§ 17 [Provided for assessment and collection of taxes by board of education. 
Superseded by section 15 and city charter.] 

§ 18 All moneys to be raised by virtue of this act, and all moneys by law 
appropriated to or provided for said districts, shall be paid to the treasurer of 
said board, who, together with the sureties upon his official bond, shall be ac- 
countable therefor to said board of education. Said treasurer shall not pay out 
any of such moneys, except by resolution of said board, and upon an order 
drawn by the president and certified by the secretary, to be so drawn in pur- 
suance of such resolution. 

(By revised city charter the city treasurer is custodian and disburser on order 
of board of education of all school monies raised by local tax and received from 
State appropriations.) 

§ 19 Said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business as 
often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special 
meetings may be called by the president, or, in his absence or inabiHty to act, 
by the secretary or any other member of the board, as often as necessary, by 
giving personal notice to each member of the board, or causing a written or 
printed notice to be left at his last place of residence at least twenty-four hours 
before the hour for such special meeting. No member of said board shall receive 
any pay or compensation for his services. It shall not be lawful for any member 
of said board, or any other officer of either of said districts, to become a con- 



EDUCATION CODE l8l 

tractor for building or making any improvement or repairs authorized by this 
act, or be in any manner directly or indirectly interested either as principal, 
partner or surety in any such contract. All contracts made in violation of this 
provision shall be absolutely void, and the person so violating shall forfeit the 
sum of fifty dollars, to. be prosecuted for and recovered by said board. 

§ 20 Instead of the report now required by law to be made by trustees of 
school districts to the town superintendent of common schools, the trustees so 
to be elected for each primary district shall, within the time now required by 
law, make such report to said board of education, and shall therein embrace 
such other and fur!:her matters as may be required and prescribed by said board, 
or as such trustee may think the interests of such primary district or school may 
require. Said board of education ihall annually, between the ist of January and 
the 1st of March in each year, make to the town superintendent of common 
schools a report containing all such matters, relating as well to said union district 
and union school as to said primary districts and their schools, as is now or 
shall hereafter be required by law or the regulations of the superintendent of 
common schools, to be reported to said town superintendent, and such other and 
further matters as they may deem advisable. Such report shall be received by 
said town superintendent, instead of the reports now required from each of 
said seven districts. A copy of such report shall be filed with the secretary of 
said board. 

§ 21 Said board of education shall, from time to time, appoint such and so 
many members of their board as they may deem proper, not less than three 
in number, a visiting committee, whose duty it shall be to visit said union 
school and each of said primary schools as often as once in each quarter, and 
make a report in writing to said board, showing tl e state and condition of each 
school, schoolhouse, apparatus and appendages, and such other matters as said 
board may require of them, and such suggestions for the improvement of the 
same as they may deem proper and advisable ; sm .h reports shall be filed and 
kept among the papers of said board. Such board may, in their discretion, 
cause such reports, or any parts of the same or the substance thereof, and 
any and all other matters relating to said schools, t( be published in such form 
as they may deem advisable. They shall, at the close of each year, publish in 
one or more of the village newspapers a report of the moneys received and 
expended by them during the year, and such other matters as they deem 
advisable. 

§ 22 Whenever, in the opinion of said board, the interests of any primary 
district require the sale or exchange of the school lot therein, said board may 
cause such sale or exchange to be made, and hold the proceeds thereof for the 
use and benefit of such primary district. 

§ 23 The title of schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus, and 
appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be 
vested in said board of education ; and the same, while used for or appropriated 
to school purposes, shall be exempt from all taxes and assessments, and shall 
not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution. 



1 82 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Said board of education in their corporate capacity shall be able to take, 
hold and dispose of any real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, 
bequest or devise for the use of said schools or any or either of them. 
(As amended by L. 1888, ch. /oj.) 

§ 24 Every officer in this act mentioned, having at the time the possession, 
custody, care, charge or control of any property belonging to said schools or 
any or either of them, or any moneys raised by the provisions of this act or 
provided by law for the purpose of education in said village, shall, at the 
expiration of his term, or whenever such officer shall resign, be removed from 
office, cease to act, or his office be otherwise vacated, transfer all such property 
and pay over all such money to the board of education. 

§ 25 Every resignation of officers appointed or elected under this act shall 
be made to the board of education ; and such resignation shall have no force 
or effect, nor in any degree excuse such officer from the discharge of his 
duties, until the same be accepted and approved by a resolution of said board. 

§ 26 Any such officer may be removed from office for any judicial misconduct 
or neglect of official duty by resolution of said board, two-thirds of the members 
thereof concurring. Opportunity shall be given to every such officer to be 
heard in his defense before any such resolution shall be adopted. 

§ 27 Every person appointed or elected to any office mentioned in this 
act, who, without sufficient cause, shall refuse to serve therein, shall forfeit the 
sum of ten dollars ; and every person so appointed or elected, and not having 
refused to accept, who shall neglect to discharge the duties of such office, shall 
forfeit the sum of twenty dollars to said board of education. It shall be the 
duty of said board of education forthAvith to prosecute for all forfeitures and 
penalties under this act, and when recovered to apply the same to the purposes 
of education in said village. All officers mentioned in this act shall be deemed 
public officers, within the intent and meaning of section 38 of title 6 of chapter i, 
part 4 of the Revised Statutes, and, as such, liable to the penalty therein pre- 
scribed, in addition to the penalty in this section before provided. 

§ 28 [Consolidated primary district libraries into a union district library. 
Now superseded, and the library incorporated February 9, 1893, under L. 1892, 
ch. 378, etc.] 

§ 29 [Provided for sale of lands for taxes. Superseded by section 15 above, 
and city charter.] 

§ 30 Said board of education may cause a school for colored children to 
be taught in said village, and include the expense thereof in the amount so to be 
raised annually by tax for contingent expenses and other purposes of education 
provided for in this act. 

§ 31 Said board of education may organize in said union school a depart- 
ment for the instruction of teachers, for such parts of the year and under such 
rules and regulations as they may by their by-laws adopt relative thereto. 

§ 32 Said board of education may at any time hereafter, whenever in their 
opinion the wants and interests of said schools shall require it, establish a class 
pf so many schools, intermediate said primary and union schools, as they may 



EDUCATION CODE 183 

deem advisable, to be called secondary schools; and for this purpose consolidate 
such and so many of said primary district as they may deem advisable, prescribe 
the tuition fees and course of studies therein, and so arrange and regulate the 
system of instruction in all of said schools that the transfer of pupils shall there- 
after be from the primary directly into the secondary and thence into the union 
school ; and for this purpose, and for the organization, government and regulation 
of said secondary schools, said board shall have all such powers as are herein- 
before conferred upon them in respect to said primary and union schools and 
their districts and property. 

§ 2^ This act shall take effect immediately. 

§ 34 Said board of education shall have power to borrow money, from time 
to time, whenever necessary, by reason of nonpayment of taxes, or a failure 
to collect a sufficient amount to pay the current expenses of the schools under its 
charge, as contemplated and provided for in section 15 of this act, as amended; 
but in no case shall they borrow a greater amount than the amount estimated 
and reported to the common council, as provided by this act as amended. {As 
added by L. 1866, ch. 2/8.) 

SUPPLEMENTAL LAWS 
Chapter 77, Laws of 1850 

An act to amend the act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the 
village of Lockport," passed March 31, 1847 

Section i The provisions of the act entitled "An act in relation to common 
schools in the village of Lockport," passed March 31, 1847, ^-^^ "o^ and shall 
not be deemed or adjudged to be, or to have been, affected, altered, or impaired 
by the act entitled "An act establishing free schools throughout the State," 
passed March 26, 1849. 

§ 2 The said board of education for the city of Lockport is hereby authorized 
to increase the rates of tuition fees in the union school under its charge and to 
graduate the same according to the branches taught, and may require fees for 
tuition of nonresident pupils to be paid in advance. {As amended by L. 1866, 

ch. 37^.) 

§ 3 Said board of education is hereby authorized to appoint a superintendent 
of the schools under its charge, with such powers and duties and compensation as 
said board shall prescribe, and such superintendent shall have power to examine 
and give certificates to all teachers who shall be employed in said union school 
district, and such certificates so given by said superintendent shall have the same 
force and effect as certificates given by county or assembly district superintendents 
have heretofore had and now have. {As amended by L. 1866, ch. 3/8.) 

§ 4 From and after the ist day of March, 1866, all secondary schools under 
the charge of the board of education for the city of Lockport shall be free, and 
no fees for tuition therein shall be charged or collected by said board. {As 
amended by L. 1866, ch. 3/8.) 

§ 5 [Taxes by board, superseded by section 15, and city charter.] 



184 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 6 The acts and doings of said board of education, in accordance with the 
provisions of their act of incorporation, since the act entitled "An act estabhsh- 
ing free schools throughout the State," passed March 26, 1849, took effect, are 
hereby ratified and confirmed. 

§ 7 The public money which shall be apportioned to the districts included 
in the said union school district shall be paid to said board, and be applied by 
them to teachers' wages, in the several schools in their charge in said district, 
in proportion to the average number of scholars pursuing common school studies 
in each of said schools. The annual report of receipts and expenditures re- 
quired to be published by said board, shall specify all sums received, and from 
whom, and all persons to whom payments were made, and the general character 
of the demands paid. 

Upon the application of said board of education to " the Regents of The 
University of the State of New York," said Regents may acknowledge and de- 
clare said union school to be an academy; and it shall thereafter be an academy, 
subject to and to be governed by the provisions of the act authorizing said 
union school, and subject to such rules and regulations as said Regents may pre- 
scribe. 

Chapter 95, Laws of 1858 
An act to amend an act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the 
village of Lockport," passed March 31, 1847 
Section i [Taxation. Superseded by amended section 15, and city charter.] 

Chapter 377, Lavs^s of 1863 
An act in addition to and in amendment of an act in relation to common schools 
in the village of Lockport, passed March 31, 1847 
[This is a special act authorizing the purchase of land bounded south and west 
by the union school lands, north by Union street and east by Washburn street. 
for school purposes; and provides for the payment therefor by taxation, and 
that " When so purchased said lots shall become and forever remain a part 
of said union school lot."] 

Chapter 822, Laws of 1867 
An act in relation to the common schools in the city of 'Lockport 

Section I The common school report now required to be made by the board 
of education for the city of Lockport shall hereafter be made to the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction, instead of the school commissioner of the 
first assembly district of Niagara county, as the same has heretofore been made. 

§ 2 The public money apportioned to the union school district of the city 
of Lockport shall hereafter be paid to the treasurer of the board of education 
for the city of Lockport, instead of the supervisor of the town of Lockport, as 
the same has heretofore been paid. {Superseded by revised city charter.) 



EDUCATION CODE 185 

Chapter 729, Laws of 1868 
An act in relation to common schools in the city of Lockport 

Section I The board of education for the city of Lockport, is hereby author- 
ized to unite any two or more primary school districts within the bounds of 
the " union school district of Lockport," for the purpose of purchasing a site 
and erecting a schoolhouse for the joint use of such districts, and for the purpose 
of enlarging, repairing or improving the same. And such districts, when so united, 
shall, for the purposes above mentioned, be treated in all respects as one district. 

Section 2 provides for the payment of the expense thereof by the issue of 
city bonds to the amount necessarv therefor. (As amended bv L. i8gj, ch. 
IS3.) 

Chapter 120, Lav/s of 1886 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Lockport 

Section 58 provides for the collection of school taxes by the city treasurer, 
and the custody thereof by him, and the liability of the city for the moneys col- 
lected or received by him. 

Section 231 provides that the common council shall levy and assess the sum 
certified by the board of education as necessary for school purposes for the 
ensuing year. 

Section 268 provides " The boundaries of the union school district shall con- 
tinue to include all the territory contained in the limits of the city of Lockport." 

There have been numerous amendments to the charter, but none of them to 
date affect or alter the relations of the common council and board of education. 

Chapter 103, Laws of 1888, as amended by L. 1889, ch. 387; L. 1890, ch. 15. 

[These are special acts authorizing the board of education to purchase land 
and erect and furnish a building for the purposes of the union school district, 
to be used by the whole or a part of the pupils attending the union school ; and 
providing for an issue of bonds by the city in payment therefor, not exceeding 
one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars in amount.] 

Chapter 372, Laws of 1897 

An act to authorize the board of education of the city of Lockport to improve, 

enlarge and repair the old union school building 

[This is a special act authorizing the board of education to enlarge, repair 
and improve the old union school building, and recites that the same is now used 
as an intermediate school ; and provides for the issue of city bonds therefor not 
exceeding ten thousand dollars in amount.] 

Special acts in 1902 and 1903 authorized bond issues to pay cost of new heat- 
ing and ventilating systems in High street and Washburn street school buildings, 
also for building the William street school building. (L. 1902, ch. 223; L. 
1903, ch. 416; L. ipos, ch. 333.) 

Special act in 1907 authorized bond issue to rebuild High street school build- 
ing, destroyed by fire. (L. igoy, ch. 393.) 

Special act in 1905 authorized bond issue to repair Hawley street school in- 
cluding nev.- heating. (L. 1003, ch. 364.) 



MECHANICVILLE 

This city was incorporated by the Laws of 1915, chapter 170. No provision is made in 
the city charter for the government of the schools and such schools are therefore governed 
by the general provisions of 'the Education Law. 



MIDDLETOWN 

Chapter 572, Laws of 1902 
An act to revise and amend an act to incorporate the city of Middletowfi and 

the acts amendatory thereof 

TITLE IX 

OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

Section 160 All the territory included within the boundaries of the city of 
Middletown shall hereafter constitute a separate school district within this 
State, and shall be designated as " the school district of the city of Middletown." 
It may bear such other additional designation as the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction may by law prescribe. Such district shall be entitled to all rights, 
powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by law, or other 
State authority, upon school districts and shall be subject to all the rules, regu- 
lations, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable 
to school districts in cities, except as otherwise provided by this act. The board 
of education of the city of Middletown shall exercise all the powers conferred 
and discharge all the duties imposed by the general laws of this State applicable 
to boards of education in cities, except as otherwise provided for by this act. 

§ 161 The present members of the board of education shall continue in office 
until the expiration of their respective terms. From January i, 1912 the board 
shall consist of nine members, one of whom shall be the mayor, and the remain- 
ing eight electors of the city. The term of office of the eight elected members 
shall be four years. At the annual election in 191 1 there shall be elected two 
members to serve four years and one to serve three years ; at the annual election 
in 1912 two to serve four years and one to serve two years; and' at each annual 
election thereafter two to serve for four years. The office of clerk of the board 
of education is hereby abolished and the duties of that office shall be performed 
by the clerk of the common council. (As amended by L. i^ii, ch. dpp.) 

§ 162 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus 
and appurtenances, and all other school property in said city, in this act men- 
tioned, shall be invested in said board of education, and such property shall not 
be subject to state, county and city taxes. And the said board of education, in 
its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal estate 
transferred to it by gift, grant, bequest or devise, for the use of the schools in 
said city established by authority of this act. 

[186] 



EDUCATION CODE 187 

§ 163 All members of the board of education elected as provided by this act 
shall enter upon their respective offices on the ist day of January next follow- 
ing their election. The annual meeting of said board shall be held on the first 
business day of January. A majority of said board shall constitute a quorum 
and be competent to transact any business of said board. At such annual meet- 
ing the said board shall elect by ballot one of their number, other than the mayor, 
president, and whenever he 'shall be absent a president pro tempore may be ap- 
pointed. The members of said board shall receive no compensation for their 
services. The said board shall appoint a superintendent of instruction for said 
city, whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. The clerk of the common 
council shall be the clerk of the board of education. The said clerk shall keep 
a record of the proceedings of the board and' perform such other duties as the 
board may prescribe. Such record, or a transcript thereof, certified by the presi- 
dent and clerk, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of facts 
therein set forth. (As amended by L. ipii, ch. (5pp.) 

§ 164 The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be 
their duty, to raise, from time to time, by tax, to be levied upon all the real and 
personal property in said city which shall be liable for the ordinary city taxes, 
such sum or sums of money as the board of education shall certify to the said 
common council to be necessary for any or all of the following purposes :' 

1 To purchase, lease, or improve sites for schoolhouses. 

2 To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses 
and appurtenances. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages. 

4 To purchase fuel and pay the contingent expenses of the schools under their 
supervision, and the expenses of the libraries of said schools. 

5 To pay the wages of teachers, after applying to that purpose all the public 
school moneys, and all the other moneys received by said board, or that shall be 
under their control, and which may by law be appropriated and provided for 
that object; provided that no moneys shall be raised for the purchasing of any 
site, or the erection of any schoolhouse or the enlarging of any school building 
already erected, unless the consent of a majority of the taxable inhabitants of 
said city authorized to vote, and voting at an annual or special meeting called 
for that purpose be first obtained. 

6 The common council of said city are hereby authorized and directed to raise 
by loan, in anticipation of the taxes, the moneys to be levied and collected as 
herein provided. The taxes to be levied as aforesaid, and collected by virtue of 
this act, shall be collected at the same time and in the same manner as other city 
taxes. 

7 Whenever the board of education shall deem the erection of an additional 
schoolhouse or schoolhouses necessary for the common schools, or necessary and 
additional edifices for the high school, they shall determine the kind of house or 
edifice, the sum required to erect the same, and the sum necessary to purchase 
the site, and furnish the appurtenances, specifying the probable cost of each 



loO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

separately, to be the best of their judgment, and certify the same to the common 
council of the city of Middletown. And it shall thereupon be the duty of the 
common council forthwith to cause a notice to be published, and a special elec- 
tion or appropriation meeting to be held in the manner provided by the fifth title 
of this act; and in case a majority of the ballots cast at such election or appro- 
priation meeting shall be in favor of the expenditure of the sums for any or all 
of the purposes so certified, it shall thereupon be the duty of the common coun- 
cil to provide by assessment and taxation for raising the funds necessary for 
that purpose, in the manner provided by the fifth title of this act. Instead of 
providing by assessment and taxation for forthwith raising such funds, it shall 
be lawful for the common council of the city of Middletown to issue bonds or 
other evidence of indebtedness of the city of Middletown for the purposes of 
the purchase of such schoolhouse lots and sites, and the building and enlarge- 
ment of such schoolhouses or high school and appurtenances in such amounts 
as occasion may require, which bonds shall bear interest, payable half-yearly, 
not exceeding six per centum per annum, and shall be signed by the mayor and 
clerk of said city and president of the board of education, and the seal of said 
city be afiiixed thereto, and may have attached thereto coupons or warrants for 
the payment of interest. Said bonds shall be called " school building bonds," 
and shall not be sold for less than par and accrued interest. The proceeds re- 
ceived from the sale of said bonds shall be deposited with the treasurer of said 
city to the credit of said board of education, and shall be paid only by order of 
said board of education, drawn by the president thereof, and countersigned by 
the clerk thereof, for the purposes only as provided by this subdivision. It shall 
be the duty of the common council and they are hereby authorized to raise by 
assessment and taxation in the same manner as amounts are raised for the ordi- 
nary affairs, and expenses of said city, such sums as may be necessary to pro- 
vide for the payment of the principal of said bonds and the interest thereon as 
the same becomes due and payable. 

§ 165 All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all 
school moneys by law appropriated to and provided for the schools of said city 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the city of Middletown, who, together with the 
sureties upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, in the same man- 
ner as for other moneys of said city, and who shall be liable to the like penalties 
for any official misconduct in relation to school as to other moneys of said city. 
Such moneys shall be deposited with such treasurer to the credit of said board 
of education, and shall be paid only by order of said board on drafts drawn by 
the mayor and countersigned by the city clerk, payable to the order of the per- 
son or persons entitled to receive such moneys ; and said treasurer shall keep the 
funds received by him under this act separate and distinct from any other funds. 
(As amended by L. ipii, ch. 6pp.) 
§ 166 The said board shall have the power and it shall be their duty: 
I To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools as said 
board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the same 
in their discretion. 



EDUCATION CODE 1 89 

2 To hire schoolhouses or rooms for school purposes. 

3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may 
deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expenses attending the same. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances in relation 
thereto are enforced. 

6 To contract with, license and employ all necessary teachers, and at their 
pleasure to remove them. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and pro- 
vided by law for that purpose. 

8 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, provided the 
account of such expenses shall be first audited and allowed by said board of 
education. (As amended by L. ipii, ch. 69(^.) 

9 To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, for building schoolhouses, 
purchasing sites, and other purposes for which the same may be raised, but only 
for the purposes for which it was raised unless there should be a surplus, and 
to that end that the clerk of the board of education be required to open an ac- 
count for each separate fund for which money was raised and drafts drawn 
accordingly. 

10 To have the entire supervision and management of the schools in said city, 
established under and by virtue of the provisions of this act; and from time to 
time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and 
regulations for their organization, government and instruction, for the recep- 
tion of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, for their advance- 
ment from class to class, as their degree of scholarship may warrant, and gen- 
erally for the promotion of the good order and prosperity of said schools. 

11 To sell and dispose of any school buildings, lots or sites, whenever in the 
opinion of the board it may be advisable. 

12 To determine and certify to the common council of the city, on or before 
the I St day of September in each year, the sums of money in their opinion neces- 
sary to be raised, under the provisions of this act, for the year commencing on 
the 1st day of January following, specifying in detail the purposes for which the 
same are required. {As amended by L. 1911, ch. iSy.) 

§ 167 The board of education shall have a regular meeting at least once in 
each month. 

§ 168 The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of 
persons not resident within the city to attend any of the schools of said city 
under the control of said board upon such terms as said board shall by resolu- 
tion prescribe. 

i< 169 The said board of education shall be trustees of the public library 
and the school libraries in said city, and all the provisions of law relative to dis- 
trict school libraries shall apply to said board. They shall also be vested with 



190 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by law for 
the purchase of Hbraries as is conferred upon the inhabitants of school districts. 
It shall be the duty of said board, in their discretion, to provide rooms for the 
school libraries of said city. The board shall also appoint one or more hbra- 
rians to have the care of the books, and to superintend the letting out and re- 
turning thereof, and the said board, or the general librarian, under the direction 
of said board, may make all purchases of books for the libraries of such schools, 
and exchange or cause to be repaired the damaged books belonging thereto. 

§ 170 It shall be the duty of said board, in each year, to prepare and make 
to the common council of the city a correct report of the receipts and disburse- 
ments of moneys under the provisions of this act, during the preceding year, in 
which accounts shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1 The moneys raised by the common council of the said city under the pro- 
visions of this act. 

2 The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county 
treasurer. 

3 The moneys received by the board under section 160 of this act. 

4 All other moneys received by the treasurer subject to the order of the board. 

5 The manner in which such money shall have been expended, specifying the 
purpose for which each amount was paid. (As amended by L. ipoy, ch. <55J.) 

§ 171 The common council of said city shall have the power, and it shall be 
their duty, to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of educa- 
tion may report as necessary and proper, for the protection, safekeeping, care 
and preservation of the school buildings, lots, sites, appurtenances and appen- 
dages, libraries, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools in 
said city, and to impose proper penalties for the violation of the same, subject 
to the restrictions and limitations contained in this act to incorporate the said 
city, and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner as the penalties 
for the violation of other city ordinances, and when collected shall be paid to 
the treasurer of the city, and be subject to the order of the board of education, 
in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 
§ 172 [Repealed by L. 191 1, ch. 187.] 

§ 173 The said board of education shall make a report to the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction of the State, and such report shall be made in a manner, 
at least annually, and at such other times as he may direct. It shall be the duty 
of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion for the use of the board 
of education of the city of Middletown, such portion of the school, library and 
other money as it shall be entitled to, by its 'annual report, in the ^ame manner 
in which such moneys are apportioned to cities, and the amounts to which it 
shall be entitled shall be certified to the treasurer of Orange county. The said 
county treasurer of Orange county shall pay over to the treasurer of the city 
of Middletown for the use of the board of education of said city, such por- 
tion of the school, library and other moneys apportioned to the said city of Mid- 
dletown by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for teachers' wages and 



EDUCATION CODE I9I 

libraries or other purposes, as shall by law be apportioned to said board of edu- 
cation or district. 

§ 174 All property, real and personal, rights, powers, privileges and contracts 
at the time of the passage of this act, possessed, owned, occupied, exercised and 
enjoyed by, as well as all the duties, contracts, obligations and liabilities hereto- 
fore imposed upon the said board of education of the city of Middletown, are 
hereby vested and imposed upon the board of education of said cit}^ of Middle- 
town ; and all rules and regulations of the board of education of the city of Mid- 
dletown, in force at the time of the passage of this act, shall be and remain valid 
and effectual as the rules and regulations of the board of education of said city, 
until repealed, modified or changed, subject, however, to the provisions of this 
act, and the rights and privileges of all persons or parties that may have arisen 
or accrued under, pursuant to or by the reason of any such contract, rule or reg- 
ulation, or otherwise, as well as any liabilities that may have arisen by reason 
thereof, shall remain and be the same under this act as they would have been 
had not this act been passed ; and all rights and liabilities of said board of edu- 
cation of said city existing at the time of the passage of this act shall be in no 
wise affected or changed hereby. 



MOUNT VERNON 

Chapter 182, Laws of 1892 

An act to incorporate the city of Mount Vernon 

TITLE XII 

OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT AND BOARD OF EDUCATION 
Section 229 All the territory included within the boundaries of the city of 
Mount Vernon, shall hereafter constitute a separate school district within this 
State, and shall be designated as " the school district of the city of Mount Ver- 
non." Such district shall be entitled to all the rights, powers, privileges, public 
moneys and other benefits conferred by law, or other state authority, upon 
school districts, and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of in- 
spection and superintendence, prescribed by law, applicable to school districts in 
cities, except as otherwise hereinafter prescribed. {As amended by L. i8p4, 
ch. 10.) 

§ 229a The affairs of said school district of the city of Mount Vernon shall 
be managed by a board composed of two members from each ward of said city, 
and a president at large to be elected in the manner in this act provided, which 
board shall be known and designated as the " board of education of the city of 
Mount Vernon." Such board, and its successors, shall possess all the powers 
conferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by this act, or by any general 
law of this State relating to school districts in cities, or relating to the board 
of education of such district, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 
(As added by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 

§ 229b The board of education of the city of Mount Vernon shall have the 
power, subject to the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, lease, hold or im- 
prove any real or personal estate, in trust for said school district of said city, 
for the support and maintenance of public schools, or for any of the purposes 
of education in said city. It may also take, by gift, grant, bequest or devise, 
and hold any real or personal estite in trust for any of the purposes of educa- 
tion, art, or the purchase, support or maintenance of public libraries in said city, 
upon such terms as may be prescribed by the donor or donors and accepted by 
said board, and it may execute any trust for any of the purposes aforesaid, and 
provide for the proper execution thereof. The title of all the schoolhouses, sites 
and lots, located within the boundaries of the city of Mount Vernon, and per- 
sonal property appertaining to the schoolhouses situated within said city, hereto- 
fore belonging to or in the possession of school districts numbered i, 2, 4 and 5, 
in the town of Eastchefter, shall be and is hereby vested in the school district 
of the city of Mount Vernon; and said school districts, being wholly or in part 
within the boundaries of said city, are each dissolved; and such districts or por- 
tions thereof as are within the boundaries of said city are consolidated and con- 
stituted as hereinbefore provided, into the school district of the city of Mount 

[192] 



EDUCATION CODE 1 93 

Vernon; and all such parts or portions of said districts as are not within the 
boundaries of said city shall continue to remain as independent and separate 
school districts, as though this act had not been passed, until they may be an- 
nexed to such an adjoining district in said town of Eastchester, as the school 
commissioner of the first school commissioner district of the comity of West- 
chester may designate, subject to an appeal to the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of this State. The trustees of school districts numbers i, 2, 4 and 5, 
of the town of Eastchester, who do not reside in said city of Mount Vernon, 
shall continue to discharge the duties of their respective offices during the re- 
mainder of the terms thereof, or until the remaining portions of such district or 
districts are annexed to and form a part of some other district in said town, as 
hereinbefore provided ; and said trustees residing outside of said city, are hereby 
empowered to fill any vacancy or vacancies which shall occur in any of the offices 
of their respective boards of education by reason of this act until the next regu- 
lar school election in their respective districts, when such vacancies shall be filled 
by election for the balance of the unexpired term of such respective offices. In 
the event of any portion of any one of said districts i, 2, 4 or 5, being annexed 
to any other portion of said districts lying outside of said city, then the terms of 
office of all the trustees of such districts so annexed shall cease and expire. (As 
added by L. i8p4, ch. lo.) 

§ 229c Immediately following the passage of this act, the county judge of 
Westchester county, by designation in writing, to be signed by him and filed in 
the office of the city clerk of said city of Mount Vernon, shall appoint five per- 
sons, who, upon such appointment shall constitute a special committee to take 
account of the real and personal property, schoolhouses, sites and lots, held in 
trust, for the purpose of education, by the trustees or board of education of the 
several school districts herein enumerated at the time of the consolidation hereby 
prescribed ; and said committee shall ascertain, by reference to the report of the 
board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, as hereinafter directed to be 
made, how much of such real and personal property subsequently became vested 
in the school district of the city of Mount Vernon under the provisions of this 
act, and how much of such property remains outside the boundaries of the city 
of Mount Vernon, and in the possession of the school districts, or any of them, 
of the town of Eastchester. Such committee shall thereupon, subject to the 
approval of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State, adjust the 
values of such property equitably among the school districts in interest, direct- 
ing what sum or sums of money, if any, are to be paid to or received by any of 
the school, districts hereby affected, whether of the towns of Eastchester, or of 
the city of Mount Vernon, as compensation for or in satisfaction of property 
transferred or acquired under the provisions of this act. And the sum or sums 
of money so directed to be paid, if approved by the Superintendent of PubHc 
Instruction of the State, shall become a charge against the school district or dis- 
tricts found indebted, and the amount assessed shall be included in the next suc- 
ceeding annual statement of moneys required, submitted by the trustees or 



Jf94 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

boards of education under existing laws or under the provisions of this act, and 
when collected shall be paid over to the treasurer of the respective school dis- 
tricts which may be entitled thereto. (As added by L. 18^4, ch. 10.) 

§ 229d The board of supervisors of Westchester county shall, at their first 
annual session after the passage of this act, proceed to inquire and determine the 
amount of uncollected tax for school purposes that was, at the date of the pas- 
sage of this act, assessed and confirmed against the real property in the terri- 
tory covered by the several school districts hereby affected. Of the amount so 
ascertained the said board shall determine how much should be equitably paid to 
the school district of the city of Mount Vernon as created by this act, and how 
much to such of the school districts of the town of Eastchester as were formerly 
parts of the school district hereby consolidated and made the school district of 
the city of Mount Vernon. In determining the proportions of the school tax 
to be paid as aforesaid, to the several school districts, the board of supervisors 
shall be governed by the assejsed valuation of property, subject to school tax, 
located within such school districts as they existed before the passage of this act, 
and the proportion of school tax, uncollected at date of the passage of this act, 
to be paid to such of the school districts of the town of Eastchester as were 
formerly parts of the school districts hereby consolidated, shall bear proportion 
to the assessed valuation of real property in such school districts of the town of 
Eastchester, and outside the boundaries of the consolidated school district of the 
city of Mount Vernon. {As added by L. 1894, ch. 10.) 

§ 22ge On the second Tuesday following the date when this act shall take 
effect, the members of the board of education of union free school districts num- 
bers I, 2, 4 and 5 of the town of Eastchester, then residing within the bounda- 
ries of the city of Mount Vernon, shall assemble at the Fifth avenue school- 
house, situated on Fifth avenue near Second street in said city, at eight (8) 
p. m. of that day; and such of their number as shall so assemble shall then and 
there organize by the election of one of their number as president, and some 
suitable person, not of their number but who shall be a resident of said city, as 
clerk, who shall, by virtue of his office, act as secretary, and keep the minutes 
of said board; and thereupon and thereafter such members of said board of edu- 
cation and trustees so organized shall be known and designated as and shall be- 
come and be and possess all the powers and discharge all the duties of the 
" board of education of the city of Mount Vernon," as provided by this act ; 
and thereupon the terms of office of all the trustees of said several school dis- 
tricts I, 2, 4 and 5 residing in said city shall cease and expire. 

At a special school election for the city of Mount Vernon to be held within 
thirty (30) days after the passage of this act, notice of which shall be given 
by said board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, as hereinafter provided, 
there shall be elected, by the persons residing within said city qualified to vote for 
school officers under the general school laws of this state, a president of said 
board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, who shall hold office for the 
term of four years. And also at such special election there shall be elected, 



EDUCATION CODE I95 

by the persons residing in the respective wards of said city who shall be qualified 
under the general school laws of this State to vote for school officers, two mem- 
bers of said board of education, to be known as trustees, one of which in each 
ward shall be elected for a term of two years, and the other for a term of 
four years ; and at each regular school election thereafter to be held, as herein- 
after provided, there shall be elected one member of said board of education in 
each ward of said city, whose term of office shall be for four years, in place of 
the trustees from each ward whose term of office shall next thereafter expire : 
and at each alternate regular school election thereafter to be held, there shall 
be elected, by the city at large, a president of said board, whose term of office 
shall be four years, in place of the president whose term of office shall next 
thereafter expire. The said board of education shall designate at least five 
polling places in as many separate wards in said city, as the polling places for 
holding elections for school officers, and the particular ward for which each 
polling place shall serve. Notice of such special election, and of all subsequent 
elections to be held under this act, shall be given by said board of education 
of the city of Mount Vernon, by a notice to be signed by its president and clerk, 
which shall specify the time of holding such election and the location of the 
several polling places, and the ward to which each polling place is assigned. 
It shall also specify the number and office of members of said board, with their 
respective terms of office, to be elected thereat. Such notice shall be published 
in the official city newspapers at least once in each week for three successive 
weeks immediately preceding such election. The inspectors of election of the 
several election districts, wherein such polling places are situated respectively, 
and who are authorized to hold and conduct elections in said city at the time of 
holding such school elections, shall preside and hold said school elections in their 
respective districts. The clerk of said board of education shall, at least ten 
days before the date of such school elections, notify the inspectors of election 
districts in which polling places are situated, by notice mailed to each of them 
in the post office of said city, of every such election and the polling places 
designated by said board. The inspectors of election in each of said election 
districts shall preside and conduct such school elections at the places in their 
respective districts designated as aforesaid; and their powers and duties in 
respect thereto shall be determined and regulated by the provisions relating to 
the holding of the annual city elections for city officers, except as modified 
by this act. The regular election for school officers in said city, under this 
act, after said first election, shall be held on the first Tuesday of June, 1896, 
and biennially thereafter on the first Tuesday of June in each alternate year. 
Said first election, and all subsequent elections for school officers, shall be opened 
at three o'clock in the afternoon and shall be kept open, without intermission or 
adjournment, until nine o'clock in the evening, when the same shall be finally 
closed, and the inspectors of election shall forthwith,' without adjournment, 
canvass all votes cast, declare and make duplicate certificates of the result, 
as required in the general city's elections, and file such duplicate certificates within 



196 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

twenty-four hours thereafter, one with the clerk of the board of education 
of said city, and the other with the clerk of said city. At such elections there 
shall also be elected, when necessary, in the respective wards, such other member 
of the board of education as required to fill a vacancy that may have occurred 
during the preceding year, the member so elected being entitled only to fill the 
unexpired term of the member who may have resigned, refused to serve, died 
or been removed. In the case of members of the board elected to fill vacancies 
as herein described, their names upon the ballots to be voted must be accompanied 

by the words : " To fill the unexpired term of , resigned," or " refused 

to serve," " died " or " rem.oved," as the case may be. The members of the 
board of education who shall be elected by the electors of the respective wards, 
under the provisions of this section, shall be residents of and freeholders in 
such wards during their respective terms. They shall receive no compensation 
for their services as members of such board. (As added by L. 1894, ch. 10.) 

§ 229/ On the day following the first school election, and on the days follow- 
ing the regular school elections to be held under this act, the board of education 
or said city shall convene at eight o'clock in the evening, at its usual place of 
meeting, and all the certificates of the votes cast at each of the polling places 
designated as aforesaid shall be produced and said board of education shall 
forthwith proceed to canvass such certificates, declare the result thereof, and 
shall cause a statement of the whole number of votes cast for each candidate 
to be entered on its minutes, shall declare those persons elected who have the 
greatest number of votes, and shall immediately thereafter make a certificate in 
writing of all those who are duly elected, to be signed by its president and clerk, 
and cause the same to be filed within twenty-four hours in the office of the city 
clerk, and it shall be the duty of the city clerk, within five days thereafter, to 
notify the several persons so duly elected of their election. The persons so 
elected shall, within fifteen days after the fihng of such certificate of election as 
aforesaid, take the constitutional oath of office, and file the same within said fif- 
teen days in the office of the city clerk; and every person who neglects within 
said last mentioned period to take and file said oath of office shall be deemed to 
have declined the office, and it shall be vacant. {As added by L. 1894, ch. 10.) 

§ 229^ The term of office of each school officer elected under the provisions 
of this act shall commence on the second Monday of August next following his 
election; and on the second Monday of August next following the passage of 
this act, the board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, as constituted for 
the preceding year, shall be dissolved and the terms of office of all the trustees 
or members of the board of education of school districts i, 2, 4 and 5 of the town 
of Eastchester, then residing within the boundaries of the city of Mount Vernon, 
shall cease and expire, and the persons to be elected at said first school election, 
after duly qualifying, as hereinbefore provided, and their successors in office, 
shall thereafter constitute the board of education of said city. A majority of 
the trustees of said board of education shall constitute a quorum.. In the pro- 
ceedings of the board of education the president shall preside over its meetings; 



EDUCATION CODE 



197 



and each member thereof present shall have a vote except the president, who 
shall have only a casting vote when the votes of the other members are tied. 
Every school officer shall at the time of his election and during his term of office 
be a resident and freeholder of the city, and every trustee removing from the 
ward from which he was elected, and every school officer removing from the city, 
shall thereby vacate his office. All school property located within the bounda- 
ries of said city, as well as all powers, privileges and contracts exercised and en- 
joyed by and all duties, obligations and liabilities of said trustees or boards of 
education of the school districts herein enumerated, except as herein provided, 
are hereby transferred to, vested and imposed upon said board of education of 
the city of Mount Vernon, constituted and organized as aforesaid; and said 
board shall be held to have actual possession and be seized of all such property, 
rights and contracts, in trust for such school district of the city of Mount Ver- 
non, for school purposes as hereinbefore provided; and the rights and privileges 
of all persons or parties that may have arisen or accrued under, pursuant to, or 
by virtue of any contract, rule or regulation, as well as any liability that may 
have arisen by reason thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall remain and 
be in force by or against said board of education of the city of Mount Vernon 
and their successors, in the same manner and with like effect as might have been 
done by or against the trustees or boards of education of said school districts, 
or their or each of their successors, as if this act had not been passed. All books 
of record, account or instruction, and all documents and papers of whatever 
nature, that pertain to any of the schools within the boundaries of the city of 
Mount Vernon, and are in possession of the trustees or boards of education of 
the several school districts herein enumerated at the time of the passage of this 
act, shall be turned over and delivered to the board of education of the city of 
Mount Vernon upon its organization. (As added by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 

§ 229/1 The trustees of school districts numbers i, 2, 4 and 5 of the town of 
Eastchester shall make out and deliver to the board of education hereby created, 
at the first meeting, a detailed statement of their several districts, showing all 
the school property, both personal and real, in their several school districts, and 
the estimated value thereof, the number of schoolhouses in their districts, the 
size thereof and the materials of which the same are built, the departments into 
which the schools are divided, and the average attendance of each school and 
department, the number of volumes in each school library, the number and 
names of the teachers employed in each, their rank and the salaries paid to each ; 
the balance on hand at the time of their last annual report, the amount of money 
ordered to be raised at the last annual meeting of the district, and the purposes 
for which it was appropriated; the receipts and expenditures of said trustees 
since said last annual meeting ; the amount of money due and owing to the dis- 
trict, the amount of indebtedness of the district, and such other facts as they 
may deem necessary to make a full and complete statement of the condition of 
the schools in their several districts. Immediately upon the organization of the 
board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, as hereinbefore prescribed, 
said board shall proceed to the discharge of its appropriate duties. It shall pro- 



I9'8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

vide and appoint a place for its further meetings, which shall be held as often 
as once in each calendar month. It shall adopt proper rules and regulations for 
such meetings and the dispatch of its business, and for the appointment of such 
committees as it may deem advisable. It shall appoint a clerk, as hereinbefore 
provided, who shall hold office during the pleasure of the board, and whose com- 
pensation shall be fixed by such board. The clerk shall keep an accurate record 
of the proceedings of said board, and shall perform such other duties as the 
board may prescribe. Said board shall, within fifteen days after its first organ- 
ization, prepare a report of the real and personal property acquired by it under 
the provisions of this act, specifying the location and approximate value thereof, 
which report shall be transmitted to the special committee directed to be ap- 
pointed in section 229c of this act. Said board of education shall also proceed 
to make, and as soon as practicable complete, a statement and account of all the 
funds in hand, collected or in process of collection, in each of the school districts 
consolidated under this act, with the proportion thereof that should come into 
the possession of the said board by virtue of this act; and all of the debts and 
liabilities owing, contracted or incurred by each of said districts, showing the 
proportion thereof that should become a charge against the school district of 
the city of Mount Vernon. Copies of such statement shall be transmitted to the 
common council of the city of Mount Vernon, the said special committee created 
as above provided, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction of this State. 
Said board shall proceed to collect such outstanding accounts as pertain to the 
schools or school property within the boundaries of the city of Mount Vernon, 
and such portion of the outstanding school tax as the board of supervisors of 
Westchester county shall, under the provision of this act, apportion to said school 
district of the city of Mount Vernon. Said board of education shall also pro- 
ceed to settle and liquidate the debts and liabilities of said districts that have 
been or incurred upon or on account of the schools or school properties located 
within the boundaries of the city of Mount Vernon; and such debts and liabili- 
ties of said school districts as pertain to or have been incurred upon or on ac- 
count of schools or school properties remaining outside the boundaries of the 
city of Mount Vernon, shall be apportioned as charges against the school dis- 
tricts of the town of Eastchester that may be formed from the parts or portions 
of school districts hereinbefore enumerated, by the school commissioner of the 
first school commissioner's district of Westchester county, under the provisions 
of section 229^. (As added by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 

§ 229^' Subject to the provisions of this act, the board of education of the city 
of Mount Vernon shall have power, and it shall be its duty 

1 To establish and organize, in said city, such and so many free schools, in- 
cluding night schools, as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to 
change or discontinue the same at its discretion. 

2 To establish and maintain, whenever it shall be deemed expedient so to do, 
within the limits of the school districts hereby created, a high school, to which 
graduates from the free schools of said district shall be admitted for a course of 
instruction to be regulated by the board of education. 



EDUCATION CODE I99 

3 To organize, establish and maintain school saving banks, under the authority 
of, and in conformity with, any general law of the State in regard to such or 
similar institutions. 

4 To purchase or hire, sell or dispose of, schoolhouses, lots or sites ; to alter, 
improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances as may be deemed advisable. 

5 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expense attending the sabie. 

6 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said city in regard thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

7 To contract with and employ a superintendent of instruction for said city, 
and fix his compensation ; to contract with and employ all necessary teachers for 
the schools of the city, and at pleasure to remove them or any of them, or the 
superintendent of instruction, under such rules and regulations as may be estab- 
lished by law, or by the Department of Public Instruction of the State. And 
nothing in section 229^ of this act shall be construed to prevent the exercise of 
the power hereby conferred upon the board of education. 

8 To pay the salaries of superintendent and teachers out of any moneys appro- 
priated or provided by law for that purpose. 

9 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board and district, in- 
cluding the wages of clerk, janitors and other assistants and employees, and inci- 
dental expenses. 

10 To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, or which may have been 
previously raised by any of the districts consolidated hereby, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such manner as may 
be deemed advisable, but only for the purpose for which the same was raised; 
and the expenditures herein directed apply only to school property located within 
the boundaries of the city of Mount Vernon, outside which the board of educa- 
tion hereby created has neither authority nor jurisdiction. 

11 To take and appropriate land and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, when authorized so to do, upon making compensation therefor, 
in the same manner and under the same proceedings as prescribed and conferred 
upon the common council of the city of Mount Vernon, in the matter of improve- 
ments, by section 170, of title 7 of chapter 182, of the Laws of 1892. 

12 To license all teachers employed in the schools thereof in the same manner 
and with like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties. (As 
amended by L. i8p3, ch. i8p.) 

13 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Regents of 
the University and the Superintendent of Pubhc Instruction of the State, the 
entire supervision and management of the pubHc schools of said city, and the 
right, from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as may be deemed ex- 
pedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and instruction 
for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse 
to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degree of scholar- 



200 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

ship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of the good order and pros- 
perity of said schools. (As amended by L. 1895, ch. i8p.) 

14 To allow the children of persons nonresident within the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of said board, upon such terms as said 
board may prescribe. 

15 To establish and maintain a free public library, and to provide suitable 
rooms therefor, to employ and pay a librarian and assistants to have the care 
and supervision of the books and other publications belonging thereto, and super- 
vise the letting out and return thereof. To exercise the same discretion as to the 
disposition of the moneys provided by law for the purpose of libraries, as is con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts. (As amended by L. i8p6, ch. 
146.) 

16 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

17 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred, and all the duties imposed, by the general laws of this State, applicable to 
boards of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or 
a transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all 
courts or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. (As added 
by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 

§ 229; Said board shall, on or before the ist day of April in each year, present 
to the mayor, or acting mayor, of the city of Mount Vernon, a statement of such 
moneys as it may deem necessary for each of the following purposes until the 
next annual statement, namely : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school, and the payment of the teachers 
thereof after applying such of the public school and other moneys as may be 
applicable thereto. 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds with their appen- 
dages and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

5 For the purchase, maintenance and care of the free public library and of the 
school and academic libraries, but not to exceed fifteen thousand dollars in any 
one year. 

6 For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes, the purchase of 
fuel and lights, and to pay the contingent expenses of the district, including the 
wages of clerk, janitors, and other assistants and employees, and incidental ex- 
penses. 

7 For such other purposes as required by the provisions of this act. 

If the mayor or acting mayor approves such statement, he shall sign it, and 
immediately file the same with the city clerk; if he does not approve any item 
therein he shall, within two days, return the statement, with his objections in- 
dorsed thereon or annexed thereto, to the president or clerk of the board of edu- 



EDUCATION CODE 201 

cation. Said board shall then proceed to reconsider such statement, and if three- 
fifths of all the members then in office agree to sustain the statement as made, it 
shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall be immediately 
filed with the city clerk. If three-fifths of the members of said board do not 
agree to sustain the statement as made, it shall be modified so as to conform to the 
views expressed by the mayor in his objections, and he shall then sign it and 
file it with the city clerk. If the mayor or acting mayor fails to sign a statement 
of moneys required, as herein provided, or fails to return such statement, with 
his objections thereto, to the board of education, within two days after its sub- 
mission, said statement shall be filed with the city clerk in the same manner as 
if it had been approved. When such statement is filed with the city clerk, the 
common council of said city shall include the amount therein called for in the 
annual tax and assessment roll for that year, and the amount so certified shall 
be collected and paid to the city treasurer who will credit it to the general 
school fund of the board of education. All public moneys or public funds be- 
longing or appropriated to the use of said district shall be paid to the treasurer of 
said city, who shall keep the same separate from the general funds of the city, and 
shall credit to the school fund the moneys or property belonging thereto. The 
board of education shall disburse all the funds of said district by orders upon 
the treasurer, signed by its clerk and countersigned by its president. Said orders 
shall be numbered consecutively, and shall specify the purpose for which they 
are drawn and the person to whom payable. Upon the request from said board 
the treasurer shall certify, from time to time, the balance remaining to the 
credit of said school fund. Whenever any moneys are collected by or paid to 
the city treasurer for school purposes, it shall not be lawful for said treasurer 
to apply such money, or any part thereof, to any other purpose or object. (As 
added by L. i8p4, ch. lo, and amended by L. i8p6, ch. 146; L. iqoi, ch. 285; L. 
1903, ch. 46; L. ipoy, ch. 165; L. igio, ch. 49; L. 1911, ch. 77.) 

§ 22(^k When the board of education shall determine by resolution that it 
is necessary to purchase any site or addition to any site for a schoolhouse or 
playground or to erect any school building or enlarge, alter or improve any 
school building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution the ward within 
which each of such sites is to be purchased and each of such buildings is to be 
erected, enlarged, altered or improved and the particular sum required for each 
separately. The said board of education shall thereupon give notice that a special 
election will be held in said city of Mount Vernon on such a day as the said 
board of education shall fix and determine. Such notice shall be signed by the 
president and clerk of the said board of education and shall specify the time 
of holding said election. It shall also specify the location of the several polling 
places of which there must be at least one in each ward of said city, and it shall 
also specify the ward in which such polling place is located. The said 
polling places shall be fixed and designated by a resolution of the said 
board of education. The said notice of election shall be published in 
the official city newspapers at least once in each week for two suc- 
cessive weeks preceding such election. The inspectors of election of the several 



202 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

election districts of said city wherein said polling places are situated respectively 
and who are authorized to hold and conduct elections in said city at the time 
)f holding any election provided for in this section shall preside at and hold 
said elections in their respective districts at the places in their respective dis- 
tricts designated as aforesaid. Their powers and duties in respect thereto shall 
be determined and regulated by the provisions relating to the holding of elec- 
tions for city officers in said city of Mount Vernon except as modified by this 
act. The clerk of the said board of education shall at least ten days before the 
date of any such election notify the inspectors of election of the election districts 
in which said polling places are situated by notice mailed to each of them in 
the postoffice of said city, of every such election and the polling places therefor 
designated by the said board of education. The polls shall be opened at three 
o'clock in the afternoon and shall be kept open, without intermission or adjourn- 
ment until nine o'clock in the evening, when the same shall be finally closed. 
The said inspectors of election shall forthwith, without adjournment canvass all 
the votes or ballots cast, declare the result, and make duplicate certificates of 
the same in the manner required in the elections for city officers in said city and 
file such duplicate certificates within twenty-four hours thereafter, one with the 
clerk of the said board of education and the other with the clerk of said city. 
The board of education shall provide and deliver to the said inspectors of elec- 
tion at each of the said polling places before the opening of the polls sufficient 
printed ballots for the use of the electors, which shall be indorsed " school tax," 
and shall, as the same are voted be deposited in a ballot box provided therefor 
and marked *' school tax." Upon the inside of such ballot shall be printed the 
several items or objects to be voted for, with the words " for" and "against" 
at the beginning of each item. Each elector shall indicate his vote as to each 
of said items by erasing or drawing a mark through the one or the other of said 
words " for " or " against." The inspectors shall canvass the said votes, and 
make a statement thereof in respect to each item voted upon, and immediately 
file the same with the clerk of the board of education. Within three days fol- 
lowing such election the board of education shall convene at its usual place of 
meeting, at half past seven o'clock in the evening, and the statement from each 
polling place shall be produced, and the board shall forthwith declare and make 
a certificate in writing of the result. In case a majority of the votes cast be in 
favor of any said taxes, the board of education shall have authority to borrow, 
upon the faith and credit of said city, the aggregate of the items having such 
majority, or any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be pro- 
vided for according to law. In case the sum or sums so authorized to be raised 
shall exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, the board of education shall issue 
bonds of the city of Mount Vernon or other evidence of indebtedness in such 
form as it may prescribe for the amount of such sum or sums at a rate of inter- 
est not exceeding five per centum per annum, and payable at such times as the 
said board of education shall fix or determine. The said bonds shall be exempt 



EDUCATION CODE 203 

from taxation. Said bonds or any part thereof may be sold by the said board 
of education in such manner as it may deem best, but at not less than the par 
value thereof. The board of education shall, on or before the ist day of May 
in each year, tile with the city clerk a statement of the amount necessary to be 
raised to pay the interest and principal that will become due during the ensuing 
year upon the bonds Or obligations so issued by said board, and the common 
council shall include the same in the annual city tax and assessment roll for that 
year. Such amount shall be collected and paid to the city treasurer, and by him 
credited to the " loan fund." This act shall not be construed to affect any obli- 
gation made prior to the passage of this act. The board of education, after com- 
pleting the work or other objects for which the said money may have been raised, 
may apply any unexpended balance that may remain to any object authorized or 
contemplated by this act. {As added by L. i8p4, ch. lo, and amended L. i8p6, ch. 
146; L. 1901, ch. 4/s; L. igo8, ch. ji.) 

§ 229/ It shall be the duty of the board of education, at least thirty days before 
the annual city election for city officers in each year, to make to the mayor and 
common council of the city a detailed report of the manner in which it shall have 
expended the money provided for and appropriated to school purposes from any 
source during the last fiscal year of the said board of education; also a full 
statement of the bonded or other indebtedness of the district, and such report 
shall be published by the common council in connection with, and as a part^ of, 
the annual report of the financial transactions of the city which they are required 
bv law to have printed and circulated. Said board of education shall also make 
report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and such re- 
ports shall be made in the manner and at such times as he may direct. (As 
added by L. i8p4, ch. lo.) ■ <■ 

§ 22c^n It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 
this State to apportion for the use of the said board of education of the city of 
Mount Vernon such portions of the school, library and other public money as it 
shall be entitled to by its annual .report, in the same manner in which such 
moneys are apportioned to cities, and the amounts to which it shall be so en- 
titled shall be certified to the county treasurer of Westchester county. The said 
county treasurer of Westchester county shall pay over to the treasurer of the 
city of Mount Vernon, for the use of the board of education of said city, such 
proportion of the school, library and other public money as may be apportioned 
by law or by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State to the board 
of education of the city of Mount Vernon, for teachers' wages, library and other 
school purposes. {As added by L. 1894, ch. 10.) 

8 22Qn The common council of the city oi Mount Vernon shall have the 
power, and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board 
of education of said city shall report necessary for the protection, sa ekeepmg 
care and preservation of the school buildings and other school property of said 
district, and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall 
deem proper. {As added by L. 1894, ch. 10.) 



204 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 2290 Charges of misconduct or violation or neglect of duty on the part of 
any member of the board of education, may be presented to said board, by any 
member thereof, or by any elector of Mount Vernon, and such charges shall be 
duly examined by said board, at a regular or special meeting, of which the ac- 
cused member shall have at least five days' iiotice, but at which meeting said ac- 
cused member shall not be entitled to vote. If at such meeting, after hearing 
the evidence on both sides, said board shall deem the charges against the mem- 
ber sustained, then all the papers and documents in the case, with a transcript of 
the proceedings of the meeting, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the board 
of education to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and, upon 
his approval of the findings of the board, the accused member shall be removed 
and his place deemed vacant. All vacancies in the board of education, occasioned 
by the resignation, refusal to serve, death or removal of any of its members, shall 
be filled by appointment by said board until the next regular school election, 
when the residue of the term, if any, shall be filled by election, as hereinbefore 
prescribed. {As added by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 

% 22gp The superintendent of instruction of the city of Mount Vernon shall 
confer with and act under the direction of the board of education of said city in 
performing the duties of his office. He shall, subject to the direction of said 
board, have general control and supervision of the public schools, and the teachers 
thereof, in said city, and shall, on or before the 15th day of April each year, re- 
port in writing to the board of education as follows : 

1 The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of edu- 
cation, and their sanitary condition. 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for such schools. 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books, in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, and their efficiency, 
with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the number thereof. 

5 The number of pupils registered at each school, and the average daily at- 
tendance. 

6 Such changes in the curriculum of any or all of the schools as he may deem 
advisable. 

7 As to the condition and management of the high school, if one shall have 
been established. 

8 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the people of Mount Vernon. {As added by L. 1804, ch. 10.) 

§ 2295 The said consolidated district shall be deemed and is hereby declared 
to be a union free school district under the laws of this State relating to public 
instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond with any incorporated 
city, and the boards of education therein, and the corporate authority of such 
cities, are made appHcable to the school districts hereby consolidated and estab- 
lished, and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of 
the city of Mount Vernon. {As added by L. i8p4, ch. 10.) 



EDUCATION CODE 205 

§ 229r It shall be the duty of the supervisors and town clerk of the town of 
Eastchester forthwith after the passage of this act to sell, assign and transfer 
to the city of Mount Vernon, for a nominal consideration, all tax leases and cer- 
tificates of sale now held by said town for nonpayment of any school taxes, af- 
fecting any lot, piece or parcel of land within the corporate limits of the said 
city upon payment by said city to said supervisor for the benefit of said town of 
the actual expenses incurred by said town in publishing notice of such sales ; and 
for making, executing and delivering to the said city the assignment of such tax 
leases and certificates the town clerk shall be entitled to demand and receive 
from the said city, as compensation for his services in lieu of all fees, the sum 
of fifty ($50) dollars. In making the property adjustment with the several school 
districts of the said town of Eastchester, portions of whose limits are without the 
said city, as hereinbefore provided for, the said city shall be deemed indebted to 
each of said districts for the amount of all school taxes and interest thereon, in- 
cluded in any such tax leases and certificates of sale for nonpayment of taxes, 
affecting any lot, piece or parcel of land within the corporate limits of the said 
city and of such districts, which several taxes shall not have been previously paid 
by the said town or its supervisors to said district; and such indebtedness on the 
part of such city to such district shall in the adjustment aforesaid be deemed 
and taken to be an asset of said district. (As added by L. 1804, ch. 10.) 

§ 22gs The common council of said city of Mount Vernon may from time 
to time issue bonds of the city of Mount Vernon, to be known as " School tax 
relief bonds," signed and sealed in the same manner as other bonds of the said 
city and to bear such interest not exceeding the legal rate as the common council 
shall prescribe, provided, however, that no such bonds shall be issued in excess 
of the amount of taxes remaining unpaid for the collection of which warrants 
have been issued. Such bonds shall be in such denominations and mature at such 
times, not exceeding three years from their date, as the common council may 
prescribe. The common council shall convert such bonds into money at not less 
than their par value or obtain temporary loans upon the same. When the amount 
of such bonds outstanding shall be equal to the amount of school taxes remain- 
ing unpaid, the common council shall cause all moneys received for unpaid taxes 
and interest on the same to be held exclusively for the payment of such bonds 
and the interest thereon. (As added by L. iSq^, ch. i8g.) 

§ 229^ The Mount Vernon Public School Teachers Retirement Fund Associ- 
ation is hereby established. The following shall be members: (i) any superin- 
tendent, supervisor, principal, teacher, registrar, janitor, or other employee of 
the board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, who shall have voluntarily 
joined said association within one month after the original passage of this act; 
(2) any of the above classes of employees of the board of education of the city 
of Mount Vernon, who at a subsequent period, but before the adoption of the 
amendment herein incorporated, voluntarily joined said association upon the 
payment of back dues; (3) any of the above classes, in the employment of said 
board of education previous to the adoption of this amendment, who shall vol- 



206 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

iintarily join said association within one month after this act takes effect, being 
excused from the payment of back dues; (4) any superintendent, supervisor, 
principal, teacher, registrar, janitor, or other employee, who shall for the first 
time enter into a contract with said board of education after this act takes effect ; 
and for such person's membership in this association shall be a stated condition 
in their several contracts. All members of said teachers retirement fund asso- 
ciation shall be considered members of said association during their term of em- 
ployment in the public schools of the city of Mount Vernon. The board of edu- 
cation shall constitute a board of trustees who shall have the general care and 
management of the public school teachers retirement fund created by this act. 
The public school teachers retirement fund shall consist of the following moneys 
with the interest or income therefrom. 

a All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to the said fund. 

b One per centum per annum of the respective salaries paid to the employees 
of the board of education of the city of Mount Vernon, who are or shall hereafter 
become, under any of the above provisions, members of this association. 

c A sum of money annually hereafter, equal to but not greater than five per 
centum of all excise moneys (after deducting rebates or returns), received by 
the city of Mount Vernon under or by virtue of any of the provisions of the 
liquor tax law of the State of New York; which sum shall be paid into said re- 
tirement fund and duly credited thereto, by the proper officials of said city, 
having the legal custody thereof. 

d All forfeitures and deductions of or from the salary of any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal, teacher, registrar, janitor, or other employee employed in 
the public schools of said city. Such forfeitures and deductions shall be paid 
into said retirement fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said 
city having the legal custody thereof. The unpaid salary of a teacher who is 
on leave of absence, formally granted by the board of education, shall not be 
regarded as a forfeiture or deduction, and shall not be paid into the retirement 
fund. The comptroller of said city shall be the custodian of said fund and the 
city treasurer shall be the treasurer thereof, and all orders made payable from 
said fund except for moneys drawn for investment by the comptroller shall be 
made upon the vote of said board of trustees. All orders except for moneys 
drawn for investment by the comptroller are to be signed by its president and 
countersigned by the city comptroller and city treasurer. 

The comptroller of said city shall invest for the benefit of the retirement fund 
all moneys not necessary for the payment of annuities. Such investment shall 
be made only in securities in which the savings banks of the State of New York 
are authorized by law to invest. All orders made payable from said fund for 
investment by the comptroller shall be signed by the comptroller and counter- 
signed by the city treasurer. He shall report to the board annually in the month 
of January the condition and disposition of the fund, and the items of receipts 
and disbursements during the year ending on the 31st day of the December pre- 
ceding. The board of education in making the payrolls for October and March 



EDUCATION CODE 207 

each year for the superintendent, supervisors, principals, teachers, registrars, 
janitors and other employees hereinbefore mentioned, shall deduct from the sal- 
ary payable for each of such months to each of said persons who shall be mem- 
bers of said public school teachers retirement fund association the sum of one- 
half of one per centum of his or her annual salary. The board of education 
shall thereupon issue a certificate to the treasurer stating the total sum of de- 
ductions and also the total amount of deductions from the salaries of any per- 
sons who are members of said association, for absence from duty during the 
preceding six months. Such amount shall be paid into the retirement fund and 
duly credited thereto by the city comptroller. (As added by L. ipop, ch. Q2, and 
amended by L. ipij, ch. 44.) 

§ 22gii The board of education shall have power to retire from service any 
superintendent, supervisor, principal, teacher, registrar, janitor or other em- 
ployee, who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate 
period of twenty-five years for a female and thirty years for a male, and no per- 
son so retired shall become an annuitant under this act unless fifteen years of 
such service shall have been rendered in the public schools of Mount Vernon, and 
unless he or she shall have come under the provisions of this act as hereinbefore 
provided. Annuities paid in pursuance of this act shall be one-half of the salary 
of the annuitant at the time of retirement from service, except that no annuity 
shall exceed eight hundred dollars annually, but if the moneys in the fund and 
the receipts of said fund shall be found insufficient to fully carry out the provi- 
sions hereinbefore set forth, the trustees shall then determine the pro rata 
amount which in their judgment each annuitant shall receive in one year, and 
such an amount shall be deemed full payment of the annuity for that year. If, 
however, any person, a member of this association, after twenty years' service, ten 
years of which service shall have been in the public schools of Mount Vernon, 
shall become mentally or physically incapacitated for duty, he or she may be re- 
tired by the board of education upon an annuity of as many twenty-fifths, if a 
woman, and as many thirtieths, if a man, of the full annuity as said person has 
taught, or otherwise served, in years. If at any time any member of this asso- 
ciation shall be refused reemployment by the board of education, or shall be dis- 
charged before he or she would become an annuitant under the provisions of this 
act, then such a person shall be entitled to receive from the treasurer, without in- 
terest, a sum equal to the total deductions from his or her salary in pursuance of 
this act other than the forfeitures and deductions specified in subdivision (d) 
of section 22gt of this article. 

No member of this association shall be entitled to an annuity who has not 
contributed to the retirement fund an amount equal to at least thirty per centum 
of his annuity. But a person, who is otherwise entitled to retirement and an 
annuity under this article, may become an annuitant and entitled to an annuity 
by making a cash payment to the retirement fund of an amount which, when 
added to his previous contributions to such fund, will equal thirty per centum 
of his annuity. In case a member of this association, who shall retire or be re- 



208 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

tired, is unable to pay in advance the sum required to make up the said thirty 
per centum of the annuity, the payment of such annuity may be withheld until 
the portion of the annuity withheld shall equal the sum required to make up said 
thirty per centum of the annuity. (As added by L. ipop, ch. g2, and amended 
by L. 191 s, ch. 44.) 

Chapter 489, Laws of 1901 

An act authorizing and empowering the board of education of the city of 
Mount Vernon to acquire lands for a library site and to issue bonds for the pur- 
pose of purchasing or otherv\dse acquiring the same. 

Section i The board of education of the city of Mount Vernon are hereby 
authorized and empowered to borrow upon the faith and credit of said city of 
Mount Vernon such sum or sums, not exceeding in the aggregate twenty thousand 
dollars, as may, in their judgment, be necessary for the purpose of purchasing 
lands in said city for a site for a library. 

§ 2 The said bonds shall be due and payable thirty years from the date thereof, 
and shall bear interest at such a rate of interest, not exceeding four per centum 
per annum, as the said board of education shall, by a majority vote of all the 
members thereof determine. The said bonds or any part thereof may be sold 
by the said board of education in such manner as it may deem best but at not 
less than the par value thereof with accrued interest, if any. The said bonds 
shall be exempt from taxation. 

§ 3 The said board of education shall, on or before the ist day of May in 
each year, file with the city clerk of said city of Mount Vernon a statement of 
the amount necessary to be raised to pay the interest and principal which will 
become due during the ensuing year, upon the bonds or obligations so issued by 
said board of education. The common council of said city of Mount Vernon 
shall include the said amount in the annual city taxes, and shall levy and col- 
lect the same in each year in the same manner as the city taxes are now by law 
to be levied and collected. The said amount shall be paid to the city treasurer 
of said city of Mount Vernon, and shall be used to pay the principal and interest 
on said bonds as the same shall fall due. 

§ 4 To secure the payment of the said loans the said board of education are 
hereby authorized to make, execute and deliver bonds of said city of Mount 
Vernon which shall be signed by the president and the clerk of said board of 
education and shall be of such amounts as the said board of education shall 
determine. The said bonds shall be denominated " Library site bonds of the city 
of Mount Vernon " and shall be numbered consecutively as issued, and a record 
of said bonds, showing the number, amount, rate of interest, and the time when 
payable, shall be kept by the said clerk of the board of education. 

§ 5 The credit of the said city of Mount Vernon is hereby pledged for the 
payment of such bonds as may be issued by authority of this act. 

§ 6 The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered with 
the proceeds of the sale of said bonds or any part thereof, to purchase bnds for 
a library s'^^. ^nrl improve tV'e same. 



EDUCATION CODE 



209 



§ 7 The said board of education are hereby authorized and empowered to 
acquire by purchase any lands, rights, or easements necessary or requisite for the 
purpose of carrying out the provisions or purposes of this act at such price or 
prices as they will deem fair and reasonable; and, if unable to do so, they shall 
acquire such lands, rights or easements by condemnation, under the condemnation 
law. 

§ 8 This act shall take effect immediately. 



NEW ROCHELLE 

Chapter 559, Laws of 1910 

An act to provide a charter for the city of New Rochelle 

ARTICLE XXIV 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
Section 351 City permanent school district 

352 Board of trustees 

353 Annual meeting and officers 

354 General powers and duties of the president 

355 General powers and duties of the clerk 

356 Power of the board to establish, maintain and control schools and playgrounds 

357 Power to purchase land and erect buildings 

358 Condemnation of real estate for school purposes 

359 Power to appoint and remove 

360 Issue of school bonds 

361 Nonresident pupils 

362 Removal of trustees 

363 Superintendent of schools 

364 District a union free school district 

365 Religious sects' and dogmatic books excluded ; Bible retained 

Section 351 City permanent school district. The city shall form a per- 
manent school district which shall not be subject to alteration by the district com- 
missioner of common schools for the district in which it is situated. 

§ 352 Board of trustees. The district shall be under the direction of the 
board of trustees, to be styled the board of education of the city of New Rochelle, 
which shall be a body corporate in relation to all the powers and duties conferred 
upon it by this act. The board shall consist of nine trustees, five of whom shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. It shall adopt rules to gov- 
ern its proceedings. The members of the board of education who are in office 
when this act takes effect shall be the members of the board of education until the 
expiration of their terms of office and until their successors are appointed and 
qualify. The term of office of the trustees shall be three years and shall begin 
on the second Tuesday of September in the year in which they are appointed. A 
trustee appointed to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term. The trus- 
tees shall serve without compensation. 

§ 353 Annual meeting and officers. The board shall hold an annual meeting 
on the second Tuesday of September in each year, and at such meeting or at an 
adjourned or the next regular meeting the members thereof shall choose one of 
their number as president and some person, not of their number, who shall be a 
resident of the city, as clerk. The clerk shall hold office at the pleasure of the 
board. The compensation of the clerk shall be fixed by the board. 



^ So in the original. I210] 



EDUCATION CODE 211 

§ 354 General powers and duties of the president. The president shall 
preside over the meetings of the board and shall perform such executive acts and 
duties as may be required by the board or by law. 

§ 355 General powers and duties of the clerk. The clerk shall be the 
secretary of the board and keep its minutes and shall perform such other duties 
as may be required by law or be prescribed by the board. 

§ 356 Powers of the board to establish, maintain and control schools and 
playgrounds. Subject to the provisions of this act, the board of education shall 
have power to establish, organize, equip, maintain and control free schools, includ- 
ing night schools and such other schools and courses of instruction as may, in its 
judgment, be required and to change or discontinue the same at its discretion; to 
establish, equip, maintain and control playgrounds and athletic fields ; and in gen- 
eral to provide for the educational interests of the city. 

§ 357 Power to purchase land and erect buildings. For the purposes stated 
in the preceding section, the board of education shall have power to purchase land 
in the name of the city and to erect buildings thereon. 

§ 358 Condemnation of real estate for school purposes. Whenever the 
board of education reports to the council that it is unable to purchase real estate 
rights or easements deemed by it to be necessary for school purposes, the council 
may proceed to acquire such land by condemnation proceedings. 

§ 359 Power to appoint and remove. Subject to the provisions of the 
Education Law, the board of education shall have power to appoint, employ and 
remove a superintendent of schools, teachers and other employees, and to fix and 
increase or decrease their compensation. The superintendent of schools shall not 
be removed except by a majority vote of all the members of the board. The 
board may also appoint and at pleasure remove a medical inspector of schools 
who shall be a licensed and registered physician and surgeon of at least live years' 
active practice. 

§ 360 Issue of school bonds. Whenever the amount required for the pur- 
chase of land, the erection of a building, or the enlargement of an existing build- 
ing exceeds the sum of ten thousand dollars, the board of education shall certify 
to the council by resolution the amount that is necessary for such purposes, and 
bonds for such amount may then be issued and sold in accordance with the pro- 
visions for the issuance and sale of bonds contained in this act; but the council 
must approve or disapprove the resolution of the board of education as a whole. 

§ 361 Nonresident pupils. The board may allow children who are not 
residents of the city to attend any of the public schools therein upon such terms 
as it may prescribe, and may also authorize resident children to attend public 
schools of adjacent districts and may pay for their tuition therein. 

§ 362 Removal of trustees. Charges of misconduct or of neglect of duty 
on the part of any member of the board of education may be presented to that 
board by any resident of the city. Such charges shall be served upon the accused 
member. The board at a meeting of which the accused member shall have at 
least five days' notice shall hear evidence upon the charges. If two-thirds of all 
the members of the board vote to sustain the charges, all the papers and docu- 



212 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK' 

ments in the case, with a transcript of the proceedings, shall be transmitted to 
the mayor, who shall thereupon have power to remove the accused member. 

§ 363 Superintendent of schools. The duties of the superintendent of schools 
shall be prescribed by the board of education. Subject to the direction of the 
board and to the rules adopted by it, he shall have general control and supervision 
of the public schools and of the teachers and other employees thereof. On or 
before the ist day of July of each year, or whenever required by the board, he 
shall report to it in writing the general condition and needs of the schools of the 
city and such details thereof as it may require. 

§ 364 District a union free school district. The said district shall be deemed 
and is hereby declared to be a union free school district under the laws of the 
State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond 
with any incorporated city, and to the board of education therein, and to the cor- 
porate authority of such cities are made applicable to the school district hereby 
establishe(^ and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate author- 
ities of the city of New Rochelle. 

§ 365 Religious tenets and dogmatic books excluded; Bible retained. No 
school shall be entitled to or receive any portion of the school moneys in which 
the religious doctrines, tenets, or usage of any particular church or religious sect 
shall be taught, inculcated or practised, or in which any book which contains com- 
positions favorable or prejudicial to the doctrines or tenets of any particular 
church or religious sect shall be used. But nothing herein contained shall author- 
ize the board of education to exclude the Holy Scriptures without note or com- 
ment, or any version thereof, or any selection therefrom, from any of the schools 
provided for by this chapter ; but the board of education shall not have the power 
to decide what version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, 
shall be used in any of the schools ; provided that nothing herein contained shall 
be so construed as to violate the rights of conscience as secured by the constitu- 
tion of this State and of the United States. 

ARTICLE XXV 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

Section 371 Trustees 

372 Annual estimate 
^73 Annual report 

Section 371 Trustees. In accordance with the provisions of its charter, 
the trustees of the New Rochelle Public Library shall be elected by the board of 
education of school district number i, New Rochelle, now the board of educa- 
tion of the city of New Rochelle. They shall be five in number and shall serve 
five years and until their successors are elected and qualify. Their term of office 
shall begin on the second Tuesday in September in the year in which they are 
elected. A trustee elected to fill a vacancy shall serve for the unexpired term. 
The trustees shall serve without compensation. The trustees of the New Rochelle 



EDUCATION CODE 213 

Public Library who are in office when this act takes effect shall be its trustees 
until the expiration of their terms of office and until their successors are elected 
and qualified. 

§ 372 Annual estimate. On or before the ist day of December in each year 
the trustees of the New Rochelle Public Library shall submit to the mayor, as 
president of the board of estimate and apportionment, an estimate in writing of 
the amount required for the maintenance of the library during the next fiscal year 
of the city, itemized in the manner which the board of estimate and apportionment 
may prescribe. When the estimate is approved or modified by the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment, it shall be included by that board in the annual estimate 
of the expenditures of the city and shall be adopted without change by the coun- 
cil as a part of the annual city budget. 

§ 373 Annual report. On or before the loth day of January in each year 
the trustees of the library shall submit to the mayor a report of the operations of 
the library during the past fiscal year of the city. 



§ 62 Estimates of departments. On or before the 15th day of December 
in each year the council, all heads of departments, boards, the judge of the city 
court, the trustees of the New Rochelle public library, and officers empowered 
by law to expend money shall furnish to the mayor as presiding officer of the 
board itemized estimates in writing of the amount required for the next fiscal year 
in their respective departments, boards, court or offices. Such estimates shall set 
forth in detail the amounts required for salaries, expenses and all other necessary 
items according to rules prescribed by the board. Thereafter during the month of 
January following, and on or before the 15th day of said m.onth, the mayor shall 
lay the estimates before the board of estimate and apportionment and the same 
shall be entered upon its minutes. The board of estimate and apportionment may 
make such changes in the estimates as it shall deem necessary. If it reduces the 
estimate submitted by the board of education, the estimate shall forthwith be 
returned to the board of education, which shall have power within ten days by a 
vote of two-thirds of all its members to readopt the estimate, and it shall there- 
upon be included in the annual estimate. 

§ 63 Estimates to be filed. A copy of the estimates shall be filed with the 
city clerk at the same time that they are filed with the mayor. The board of esti- 
mate and apportionment shall file with the city clerk an itemized estimate for any 
expenditure not included in the foregoing section for which an appropriation is 
to be made. 

Section 12 creates a board of education to consist of nine members and to be 
appointed by the mayor. Section 13 provides that all persons appointed to office 
by the mayor shall be electors except that women may be appointed on the board 
of education. Section 17 provides for the constitutional oath of offices. 



NEW YORK 

Chapter 378, Laws of 1897, as reenacted by chapter 466, Laws of 1901 

GREATER NEW YORK CHARTER 

CHAPTER XVIII 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 
Title I The public schools and their management 
Title 2 The College of the City of New York 
Title 3 The normal college 
Title 4 General provisions 

TITLE I 

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT 

Board of education; property under its care and control; in what name 

suits brought 

Section 1055 The title to all property, real and personal, now or that may 
hereafter be acquired for school or educational purposes, except the State Normal 
School at Jamaica,^ and also the title to all property, real and personal, purchased 
for school or educational purposes with any school moneys, whether derived 
from the issue of bonds or raised by taxation in the city of New York, shall be 
vested in the city of New York, as constituted by this act, but shall be under 
the care and control of the board of education as provided in this act, for the 
purposes of public education, recreation and other public uses. Suits in relation 
to such property shall be brought in the name of the said board of education. 
The said city of New York shall have power to take and hold any property, real 
or personal, devised or bequeathed or transmitted to it for the purposes of edu- 
cation in said city; but such property shall be under the care and control of the 
board of education as provided by this act, for the purposes of public education, 
recreation and other public uses in said city. 

The board of education is the proper party defendant in a suit relating to school 
funds. The city as trustee of the school funds has title to the money, but it is under the 
care, control and administration of the board of education and all suits in relation to it 
must be brought in the name of the board. The mere fact that the charter makes the board 
of education a member of one of the administrative departments does not indicate that the 
State functions which were formerly directly imposed upon the board as a separate public 
corporation are devolved upon the city and that the board of education is relegated to a 
position occupied by the other city departments; the charter provision does not make 
any change in the corporate powers, duties or liabilities of the board and, therefore, does not 
affect its legal capacity to sue and be sued. Hence a suit to recover teachers' salaries must be 
brought against the board of education and not against the city. Gunnison v. Board of 
Education of the City of New York, 196 N. Y. 11, aff'g 80 App. Div. 480; 81 N. Y. Supp. 181. 

Liability of city for malfeasance or misfeasance of board of education. While the 

' The Jamaica State Normal School was transferred to the city of New York by L. 
1905, ch. 524. See p. 261, post. 

[214] 



EDUCATION CODE 21 5 

title to a public school building of the city of New York is vested in the city, its board 
of education, created by statute, is made solely responsible for the care and control thereof ; 
and therefore where a pupil is injured by a defect in the floor of such a building, she 
can not collect damages of the city, as it is not liable, on the ground either of negligence or of 
nuisance, for the malfeasance or misfeasance of the officials or subordinates of its board 
of education. Brown v. City of New York, 32 Misc. 571 ; 66 N. Y. Supp. 382. 

So an action to recover for the death of a person, caused by the fall of a defective 
flagpole erected on a school building, should be brought against the board of education and 
not against the city itself. McCarton v. City of New York, 149 App. Div. 516, 133 N. Y. 
Supp. 939. 

Liability of board of education for injuries caused by lack of repair of schoolhouse. 
The board of education is not given the power to keep the school buildings in repair so 
the board is not liable under the doctrine of respondent superior for the negligence of those 
having in charge the care of such buildings. However, as the board is vested with the 
management and control of the school buildings, including the sole power to close them, 
it is responsible for injuries to a pupil resulting from its failure to close a school where it 
had notice of a defective ceiling which fell and injured such pupil. Wahrman v. Board 
of Education, 187 N. Y. 331, aflf'g iii App. Div. 345; 97 N. Y. Supp. 1066. 

The doctrine of respondent superior applies to municipal or governmental corporations 
in respect to the duties imposed on them. It therefore applies in an action against the 
board of education of the city of New York to recover for injuries received by one em- 
ployed as a cleaner in a public school. Higbie v. Board of Education, 122 App. Div. 483; 
107 N. Y. Supp. 168, distinguishing Wahrman v. Board of Education, 187 N. Y. 331. 

Liability of city for negligence. Although there can be no doubt that the board of 
education is a corporation independent of the municipal corporation, the city of New 
York, yet this fact does not relieve the city of the duty it owes to pedestrians to keep the 
sidewalks free from ice and snow, and the city itself is liable for injuries resulting from the 
neglect of that duty. Pymm v. City of New York, iii App. Div. 330; 97 N. Y. Supp. 1108. 

Notice to the principal, janitor and assistant janitor of a public school, and to an 
inspector of the board of education, of accumulation of snow on the sidewalk in front of 
a public school, is not notice to the city. The city of New York has a right to assume that 
the board of education, which is a separate corporation, will perform its duty and keep 
such sidewalk free from snow and ice. No greater duty devolves on the city with respect 
to the removal of snow and ice from walks in front of public schools than with respect 
to snow and ice which accumulates in front of private premises. Owen v. City of New 
York, 141 App. Div. 217; 126 N. Y. Supp. 38. 

Costs in an action against the board may be recovered if plaintiff's claim before suit was 
duly presented to the auditing department of the board. The comptroller is the only fiscal 
office of the board. Eagan v. Board of Education, 115 N. Y. Supp. 167. 

A bequest for the supply of a library for the College of the City of New York may be 
accepted by the board of education. Betts v. Betts, 4 Abb. N. C. 317. 

School age of children 

§ 1056 The schools of the said city under the management and control of the 
board of education shall be free to all persons over 4 and under 21 years of age 
residing in said city, but under such regulations not in conflict with the general 
school law of the State, as the board of education shall prescribe, provided, how- 
ever, that no child under 6 years of age shall be received in said schools except 
in kindergarten classes. 

Separate schools for colored children. A provision of law which provides that a 
school board may provide separate schools for colored children and exclude them from 



2l6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

other schools, provided that the schools for colored children make the same provisions for 
their education as are made in other schools, is not qualified by the constitutional privilege of 
education in a system of free common schools wherein all the children of the State may 
be educated nor by the provisions of the penal law making it a misdemeanor for teachers 
and officers of the common schools to exclude any citizen from any privilege or accom- 
modation therein. People ex rel. Cisco v. School Board, i6i N. Y. 598, aff'g 44 App. Div. 
469; 61 N. Y. Supp. 330. 

Nor does provision for such schools violate any privilege guaranteed by the federal bill 
of rights. Dallas v. Fosdick, 40 How. Pr. 249. 

The establishment of such separate schools for the exclusive use of the different races is 
not an abridgement of the " privileges or immunities " preserved by the fourteenth amend- 
ment of the federal Constitution, nor is it a denial of the equal protection of the laws. 
The privilege of receiving an education at the expense of the State is created and conferred 
only by State laws, and may lawfully be denied to any class or race by the State at its will 
and discretion. People ex rel. King v. Gallagher, 93 N. Y. 438. 

The exclusion of unvaccinated children from the public schools, as provided by 
the public health law, is within the proper and reasonable exercise of the police power of 
the State and does not contravene the provision of the Constitution which requires the 
Legislature to " provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, 
wherein all the children of this State may be educated." The right to attend the public 
schools of this State is necessarily subject to some restrictions and limitations in the 
interest of the public health. Matter of Viemeister, 179 N. Y. 235, aff'g 88 App. Div. 44; 84 
N. Y. Supp. 712.. 

Board of education ; succeeds to trusts of Public School Society 
§ 1057 All the trusts held by or vested in the Public School Society of the 
City of New York, as heretofore organized and existing in compliance with 
the provisions of an act entitled, "An act relative to common schools in the city 
of New York," passed the 4th day of June, 1853, which have not been conveyed 
by the said society, and all the rights, powers and duties of said society, which 
yet remained therein, shall continue and be vested in the board of education of 
the city of New York, which board is, and shall be held to be the lawful successors 
of said society in the execution of every trust. 

Board of education succeeds to duties and powers of former boards, etc, 

§ 1058 Subject to the provisions of this act, and so far as is consistent there- 
with, the board of education of the city of New York, as created by the terms 
and provisions of this act, shall be subject to all the duties, possess all the rights 
and exercise all the powers respectively held by the board of education, the 
school boards of the several boroughs and the inspectors of common schools on 
the day when this act takes effect, excepting such duties, rights and powers as 
shall devolve upon the local school boards as provided in this act. The powers, 
duties and functions of all the school boards in the several boroughs within the 
city of New York, as they have heretofore been constituted, shall cease and deter- 
mine, and their offices shall be abolished, on the first Monday of February, 1920, 
and the board of education, as constituted by this act, shall thereupon succeed to 
such powers, and become subject to such functions and duties as provided by 
this act. 



EDUCATION CODE 21/ 

Money to conduct schools to be raised by taxation 

§ 1059 The board of estimate and apportionment and the. board of aldermen 
of the city of New York may raise and collect by tax, on the estates, real and 
personal, liable to taxation in said city, such sum of money as may be necessary 
to provide for the conduct of the schools as called for by the budget adopted by 
the said board of estimate and apportionment and the said board of aldermen 
pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

Special and general school funds; all moneys to be administered by board 

of education 

§ 1060 All moneys raised for educational purposes in the city of New York 
shall be raised in two funds, to be known as the special school fund and the 
general school fund, respectively. The general school fund shall consist of all 
moneys raised for the payment of salaries of the city superintendent, associate 
city superintendents and district superintendents, director and assistant director 
of the division of reference and research; members of the board of examiners, 
attendance officers, lecturers and all members of the supervising and teaching 
staff, throughout all boroughs, in conformity with section 1 091 of this act. The 
special school fund shall contain and embrace all moneys raised for educational 
purposes not comprised in the general school fund. It shall be the duty of 
the board of estimate and apportionment and of the board of aldermen to 
indicate in the budget in raising the special school fund the respective amounts 
thereof which shall be available for use in the several boroughs. The general 
school fund shall be raised in bulk, and for the city at large. The board of 
education shall have power to administer and shall administer all moneys ap- 
propriated or available for educational purposes in the city of New York. (As 
amended by L. 191 4, ch. 476.) 

Administration of funds by board of education; suit to recover teachers' salary. The 
only relation the city has to the subject of public education is as the custodian and depository 
of school funds, and its only duty with respect to that fund is to keep it safely and dis- 
burse the same in accordance with the instructions of the board of education. The city, 
as trustee, has the title to the money, but it is under the care, control and administration 
of the board of education, and all suits in relation to it must be brought in the name of 
the board. A suit to recover a teacher's salary is a suit affecting or in relation to the 
school funds and must be brought against the board, not against the city. Gunnison v. 
Board of Education of the City of New York, 196 N. Y. 11, aff'g 80 App. Div. 480; 81 N. Y. 
Supp. 181. 

Board of education; how constituted; president; vacancies; members to 

serve without pay 
§ 1061 There shall be in the city of New York as constituted by this act, a 
board of education, which shall have the management and control of the public 
schools and of the public school system of the city, subject only to the general 
statutes of the State relating to public schools and public school instruction, and 
to the provisions of this act. The board of education of the city of New York 



2l8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

shall consist of forty-six members, twenty-two being residents of the borough of 
Manhattan : four of the borough of the Bronx ; fourteen of the borough of 
Brooklyn ; four of the borough of Queens, and two of the borough of Richmond. 
The members of the board of education shall be appointed by the mayor and hold 
office for the term of five years. On the first Monday of February, in the year 
1902, and in every year thereafter, the said board of education shall organize by 
electing one of its members as president of the board, who shall preside at its 
meetings, and shall have the same power to vote thereat as any other member, 
but who shall not have the power of veto. Any vacancy in the office of members 
of the board of education, caused by death, resignation, or otherwise, shall be 
filled by appointment by the mayor for the unexpired term, subject to the pro- 
visions as to the residence of such members hereinbefore set forth. On the 
third Monday of January, 1902, the mayor shall appoint members of the board of 
education to serve until the dates hereinafter specified, namely : In the borough 
of Manhattan, five members until January i, 1903 ; five members until January i, 
1904; four members until January i, 1905; four members until January i, 1906; 
and four members until January i, 1907. In the borough of Brooklyn, three 
members until January i, 1903; three members until January i, 1904; three mem- 
bers until January i, 1905; three members until January i, 1906, and two mem- 
bers until January i, 1907. In the borough of the Bronx, one member until Jan- 
uary I, 1903; one member until January i, 1905; one member until January i, 
1906; and one member until January i, 1907. In the borough of Queens, one 
member until January i, 1903; one member until January i, 1905; one member 
until January i, 1906; and one member until January i, 1907. In the borough of 
Richmond, one member until January i, 1904; and one member until January i, 
1907. In the month of November prior to the expiration of the respective terms 
of office of the members of the board of education, appointed as aforesaid, the 
mayor shall appoint their successors to serve for the full term of five years from 
the first day of January following. The terms for which such appointments are 
made shall be designated in the certificates of appointment of such members. A 
change of residence by a member of the board of education from the borough 
from which he is appointed shall vacate his office. Members of the board of edu- 
cation shall serve without pay, and shall hold no office of emolument under the 
county. State or municipal government, except the offices of notary public or com- 
missioner of deeds or offices in the national guard. 

Idem; to possess powers and privileges of a corporation 

§ 1062 For the purposes of this chapter, the board of education of the city 
of New York shall possess the powers and privileges of a corporation. 

Board of education as a body corporate. The settled policy of the State from an 
early date was to divorce the business of public education from all other municipal interests 
and to take charge of it as a peculiar and separate function through agents of its own 
-election and immediately subject and responsive to its control. To this end it is enacted 

•^he general laws of the State that all school trustees and boards of education shall be cor- 
dons with corporate powers, which, of course, includes the power to sue and be sued 



EDUCATION CODE 2ig 

in all matters relating to the control and management of the schools. Gunnison v. Board 
of Education of the City of New York, 196 N. Y. 11, afif'g 80 App. Div. 480; 81 N. Y. 
Supp. 181. 

Idem ; to appoint an executive committee ; powers of committee 

§ 1063 It shall be the duty of the board of education in the month of February, 
1902, and in each year thereafter in the month of July to appoint a standing 
committee of fifteen members of the board, who shall, subject to the approval 
of the board, constitute an executive committee for the care, government and 
management of the public school system of the city, subject to the by-laws of 
the board of education. At least one member of such committee shall be selected 
from each borough. The said board of education may by its by-laws confer upon 
said committee power to perform any of the administrative powers of the board. 
It shall be the duty_ of said executive committee to perform such duties as the 
board of education may by by-law prescribe. The board of education may, at 
any regular meeting thereof, by a majority of all the members of the board, 
remove any or all the members of the said committee, and appoint other members 
of the board to the vacancies thus created. Said executive committee shall meet 
at least once in each month. All reports of committees of the board appointed 
under its by-laws shall be presented to the executive committee for its consider- 
ation and action before being presented to the board, unless otherwise ordered by 
the board. The president of the board shall be ex officio the chairman of the 
executive committee. 

Idem; to be representative of school system; to submit estimate for entire 

school system 
§ 1064 The board of education shall represent the schools and the school 
system of the city of New York before the board of estimate and apportionment, 
and before the board of aldermen, in all matters of appropriations in the budget 
of the city for educational purposes, and in all other matters, and shall in general, 
be the representative of the school system of the city in its entirety. On or 
before the 15th of September in each year it shall submit an estimate in detail of 
the moneys needed for the entire school system of the city, during the next suc- 
ceeding calendar year, to the board of estimate and apportionment for its action. 
The board of estimate and apportionment shall appropriate for the general school 
fund for the year 1902 and, annually, for each year thereafter, an amount equiv- 
alent to not less than three mills on every dollar of assessed valuation of the real 
and personal estate in the city of New York, liable to taxation. In case the 
amount so appropriated for the general school fund exceeds the expenditures and 
ascertained liabilities chargeable to such fund during any one year, the amount 
by which the said general school fund exceeds said expenditures and liabilities 
shall become part of the general school fund for the next succeeding year, and 
the amount to be raised by tax for said fund shall be diminished by the amount 
of said excess. The board of education shall administer all moneys appropriated 
or available for educational purposes in the city of New York, subject to the 



220 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

general provisions of this act relating to the audit and payment of salaries and 
other claims by the department of finance. (As amended by L. IQO^, ch. 43.) 

Idem; to use and control certain premises 
§ 1065 The board of education shall have power to use and to control the 
premises known as the hall of the board of education, at the corner of Park 
avenue and Fifty-ninth street in the borough of Manhattan, and any other build- 
ings to be occupied for like purposes in the city of New York, and to make all 
repairs, alterations and additions in and to the said building or buildings which 
the board of education may authorize and deem advisable. It shall provide such 
offices and rooms, as it may deem advisable within the boroughs of the city of 
New York, for the administration of the powers and duties conferred by this 
chapter upon the board of education, the board of superintendents, and the city 
superintendent. 

Idem ; to dispose of personal property ; disposition of proceeds ; to lease prop- 
erty and make contracts 

§ 1066 Subject to the provisions of this section relating to the disposition of 
discarded school books the board of education shall have power, in the name of 
the city of New York and for said city, to dispose of such personal property used 
in the schools or other buildings under the charge of said board as shall no longer 
be required for use therein. The said board may sell at prices as may be agreed 
upon such manufactured articles or other products of any of its schools, day and 
evening, as may not be utilized by the board of education, and all moneys realized 
by the sale thereof shall be paid into the city treasury and shall at once be appro- 
priated by the board of estimate and apportionment to a special fund to be ad- 
ministered by the board of education for such purposes as said board, in its dis- 
cretion, may determine. All other moneys realized by the sale of personal property 
shall be paid into the city treasury and shall at once be appropriated by the board 
of estimate and apportionment, to the special school fund of the board of educa- 
tion for use in the borough in which the property sold was situated. Said board 
shall have power to lease property required for the purpose of furnishing school 
accommodations, and to prepare and execute leases therefor. The board may 
dispose of, to the best advantage of the city, either by sale or on the basis of 
money allowance for waste paper all books delivered to the several public schools 
that have been discarded either by reason of being obsolete, no longer required 
by the course of study, worn by long usage or mutilated by accident. If disposal 
is made by sale, it shall be to the highest bidder who guarantees to destroy said 
useless and discarded books, and the money realized shall be paid into the city 
treasury and shall at once be appropriated by the board of estimate and appor- 
tionment to the special school fund entitled " supplies " of the board of education 
as designated by said board. If disposal is made on the basis of money allow- 
ance for waste paper, it shall be to the highest bidder who guarantees to destroy 
said useless and discarded books and who shall name a price per pound and shall 



EDUCATION CODE 221 

deliver new books to the aggregate value of said discarded and useless books, 
upon the order of the board of education. Said disposal of discarded books need 
not be publicly advertised, nor is it necessary to enter into a formal contract. 
Should the discarded books be in such a condition that no sale or exchange can 
be made, or should there be reason to believe that said discarded books have 
become infected through disease among the pupils, the committee on supplies of 
the board of education may authorize their destruction by fire, in which event the 
superintendent of school supplies shall obtain and file in his office a certificate 
that such books have been so destroyed, signed by the principal of the school in 
which the books are located. (As amended by L. ipio, ch. 456; L. IQ13, ch. S5,' 
L. 1914, ch. 4/"/; L. 1915, ch. 602.) 

Board of education; to appoint certain officers, clerks etc., and fix their 

salaries 

§ 1067 The said board of education shall have power to appoint a secretary 
of the board; a superintendent of school buildings, who shall be an architect 
of experience and good standing, and whose term of office shall be for six 
years ; a superintendent of school supplies whose term of office shall be for 
six years ; a city superintendent of schools for the term of six years ; a super- 
visor of lectures for the term of six years ; a director and assistant director of 
the division of reference and research ; and one or more auditors. The said board 
may appoint a chief clerk and such other officers, clerks, or subordinates as it 
may deem necessary for its administrative duties, and as are provided for by 
the proper appropriation. The city superintendent of schools, any associate city 
superintendent, any district superintendent, the supervisor of lectures, any member 
of the board of examiners, the director and assistant director of the division of 
reference and research, the secretary of the board of education, the superin- 
tendent of school buildings, the superintendent of school supplies, the auditor 
or auditors, and any other officers, clerks or subordinates of the board, may, any 
or either of them, be removed for cause at any time by a vote of three-fourths 
of all the members of the board of education, and may be suspended by the board 
of education pending the trial of charges. The said board shall fix and regulate 
within the proper appropriation the salaries or compensation of the city superin- 
tendent of schools, of the associate city superintendents and the district superin- 
tendents, of the director and assistant director of the division of reference and 
research, and of members of the board of examiners. {As amended by L. 1914, 
ch. 476.) 

Salary during suspension. A clerk employed by the board of education who has been 
duly removed from his position by the board is not entitled to his salary for the period 
of suspension pending trial. It is the intent of the statute that the dismissal relate back 
to the time of suspension. People ex rel. Curren v. Cook, 117 App. Div. 788; 102 N. Y. 
Supp. 1087. 

Idem ; power to enact by-laws, rules and regulations 

§ 1068 The board of education shall have power, subject to the provisions 
of law and of this act, to enact by-laws, rules and regulations for the proper 



222 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

execution of all duties devolved upon the board, its ^member and committees 
and upon the several local school boards ; for the transaction of all business 
pertaining to the same, for defining the duties of the city superintendent of 
schools, the director and assistant director of the division of reference and re- 
search, the superintendent of school buildings, the superintendent of school sup- 
plies, of its auditor or auditors, its clerks and subordinates ; for regulating the 
manner of making disbursements from any of the funds apportioned to any bor- 
ough for school purposes, for the proper execution of all powers vested in it by 
law, and for the promotion of the welfare and best interests of the public schools 
and public school system of the city in the matters committed to its care. Until 
the board of education shall act under the provisions of this section the by-laws, 
rules and regulations of the board of education and of the several borough 
school boards in force on the ist day of January, 1902, shall remain in full 
force and effect so far as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act and are applicable. {As amended by L. 1914, ch. 4/6.) 

Resolution as to licensing teachers. The board may provide by resolution for separate 
lists of men and women license holders, and prescribe different qualifications for men and 
women applicants for licenses. Matter of Schlivinski v. Maxwell, 80 App. Div. 313; 80 
N. Y. Supp. 726. 

Removal of teacher. The board has no power to pass a by-law to provide for the 
compulsory termination of the employment of a teacher except in the manner provided for 
in sections 1093 and iioi of this charter. People ex rel. Murphy v. Maxwell, 177 N. Y. 
494, rev'g 87 App. Div. 131 ; 83 N. Y. Supp. 1098. 

By-law disciplining janitor. This section authorizes the adoption by the board of a by- 
law providing for the fining of a janitor for the infraction of regulations relating to 
janitors. A contract with a janitor is subject to the power of the board to adopt and enforce 
such a by-law. Farrell v. Board of Education, 67 Misc. 187; 122 N. Y. Supp. 289; Egan v. 
Board of Education of New York, 70 Misc. 518. 

Board of education succeeds to specific powers heretofore exercised by 

borough boards 

§ 1069 The board of education shall, in addition to the other powers herein 
expressly conferred, have power: 

1 To establish and conduct elementary schools, kindergartens, manual training 
schools, trade schools, truant schools, evening schools and vacation schools. 

2 To maintain free lectures and courses of instruction for the people of the 
city of New York. 

3 To provide special classes, whose sessions shall be held at such times in 
the day or evening as said board may determine, for the purpose of giving 
instruction in the English language to persons who can not use that language 
readily, and whose vocations are such as to prevent their attending the elementary 
or other schools in the school system. 

4 To provide one or more high schools and training schools or classes for 
teachers, as it may from time to time determine, and as the appropriations may 
permit. The said training schools or classes shall be under the control of the 

' So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 223 

board of education and of the city superintendent of schools to the extent that 
may be necessary to secure compHance with chapter 1031 of the Laws of 1895. 

5 To estabHsh and conduct playgrounds in connection with the public schools. 

6 To establish new schools and discontinue or consolidate any of the schools 
of the system. 

7 To enter into a contract or contracts, from time to time, subject however 
to the approval of the board of estimate and apportionment, with any street 
railway company, operating in the city of New York, for the transportation of 
school children to and from any public school in the city of New York at special 
rates not to exceed one-half the usual or customary rate of fares charged by 
such street railway companies, and to pay for such transportation out of the 
special school fund. The board of estimate and apportionment is hereby author- 
ized and empowered to appropriate and include in the annual budget such sum 
or sums of money as may be necessary for the purpose of this act. (As amended 
by L. 1904, ch. 542; L. 1914, ch. 479.) 

8 The board of education shall have power to establish a bureau of compulsory 
education, school census and child welfare and subject to the provisions of law 
and of this act, the said board shall have power to make by-laws, rules, regula- 
tions and prescribe forms for the proper performance of the duties of all persons 
employed in and under the direction of said bureau. On the nomination of the 
board of superintendents the board of education shall have power to appoint a 
director and an assistant director of the said bureau for a term of six years each, 
and such attendance officers, enumerators, clerks and other employees as may be 
necessary, and to fix their salaries within the proper appropriation ; to assign a 
chief attendance officer, and one or more attendance officers as supervising attend- 
ance officers for such periods as may be prescribed in the by-laws of the board 
of education. No person shall be eligible for the position of director or of as- 
sistant director of the said bureau who has not one of the following qualifications : 
(o) Graduation from a college or university recognized by The University of the 
State of New York, together with five years' experience in teaching or supervision 
since graduation. (&) A principal's license for any of the boroughs of the city 
of New York obtained as the result of an examination, together with ten years' 
experience in teaching or supervision. The director and assistant director shall 
be participants in the teachers' retirement fund under section 1092 of the charter 
of the city of New York and be subject to its provisions. Attendance officers 
employed under the direction of the said bureau shall perform duties in connec- 
tion with the enforcement of the compulsory education law, in the taking of a 
school census, and in connection with the employment of children under the labor 
law, and such other duties, not inconsistent with this act, as the director of the 
bureau or the board of education may prescribe. It shall be the duty of persons 
in parental relation to any child between the ages of four and eighteen years resid- 
ing in the city of New York to give to the educational authorities of the district 
within which they severally reside, all the information prescribed in section 650 
of article 24 of the Education Law of the State relating to such child, and such 
other information as may be required. Persons in parental relation who with- 



224 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

hold such information shall be liable to the penalty prescribed in section 653 of 
article 24 of the Education Law of the State. It shall be the duty of attendance 
officers, acting as census enumerators, to collect the information prescribed in 
section 650 of article 24 of the Education Law and such other information as the 
State Commissioner of Education or the board of education may require. 

The director of the bureau of compulsory education, school census and child 
welfare, herein established, shall, subject to the by-laws of the board of education 
and in its name, enforce the compulsory education law, direct attendance officers 
in their duty, commit and parole truant and delinquent children and proceed 
against those in parental relation in the manner provided in section 635 of chap- 
ter 140 of the Laws of 1910 as amended, any provision of the said law or of 
section 1078 of the charter of the city of New York to the contrary notwith- 
standing. The assistant director shall perform such duties in connection with 
the supervision of the school census, or otherwise, as the director, subject to the 
by-laws of the board of education, may prescribe. Under the direction of the 
board of education the city superintendent of schools shall have a general super- 
vision of the bureau of compulsory education, school census and child welfare. 

On or about May i, 1914, the board of education shall ascertain the informa- 
tion required by section 650 of article 24 of the Education Law of the State 
relating to a census of all persons within the city of New York between the ages 
of four and eighteen years of age. Thereafter such census shall be amended 
from day to day by attendance officers, clerks and other employees under the 
supervision of the director, as changes of residence occur among children of such 
city within the ages prescribed in this article, and as other persons come within 
the ages prescribed, and as other persons within such ages shall become residents 
of such city, so that said board of education in its census bureau shall always 
have on file a complete census of the names and residences of the children 
between such ages and of the persons in parental relation thereto. 

The expense of carrying out the provisions of this act, except the salaries of 
directors and attendance officers, shall be paid out of the special school fund as 
created by section 1060 of the charter of the city of New York. 

A teacher in an evening school is in no sense a public officer, nor is the compensation 
he receives a salary fixed by law as an incident to an office. The board of education has 
power to reduce such compensation to what it believes his services are worth, in the 
absence of an express agreement. Morris v. Board of Education, 54 Misc. 605; 104 N. Y. 
Supp. 979; aff'd 124 App. Div. 921. 

Idem ; secretary ; duties ; secretary and chief clerk may administer oaths 
§ 1070 The secretary of the board of education shall have charge of the 
rooms, books, papers and documents of the board, and shall, in addition to his 
duties as secretary of the board, perform such other duties as may be required by 
its members or committees. The secretary and the chief clerk of said board 
are authorized to administer oaths and take affidavits in all matters appertaining 
to the schools in the city of New York, and for that purpose shall possess 
all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled to any 
of the fees or emoluments thereof. 



EDUCATION CODE 225 

Idem; provide for branches etc., in boroughs 

§ 107 1 The board of education shall make provision for the organization in 
the various boroughs of such branches as they may deem necessary in the 
bureaus of the superintendents of school buildings and of school supplies, and 
shall make such provisions by its by-laws as will secure prompt and efhcient 
service for the selection and acquisition of sites, the planning and erection of 
new buildings for school purposes, and for the alteration and repair of existing 
buildings, and for the regulation of the purchase and distribution of school 
books and supplies, and for the execution and carrying into effect of all matters 
and things, authority for which shall have been granted by the board, and for 
the preservation of all school records. Subject to such by-laws, the superin- 
tendent of school buildings shall be the executive officer of the board in respect 
to all matters relating to the bureau of buildings, or in respect to which he is 
charged with duties under the provisions of this act. He shall advertise for bids 
for the erection, alteration or repair of any building to be used for educational 
purposes in the city of New York which has been authorized by the board of 
education. 

Superintendent of school buildings ; oath and security by ; subject to regula- 
tions of board; vacancy in office 
§ 1072 The superintendent of school buildings shall take and subscribe before 
the secretary or the chief clerk of the board of education, the oath prescribed 
by the constitution of this State, and give such security for the faithful per- 
formance of the duties of his office as the board of education may direct; 
and the bureau under his charge shall be subject to such rules and regulations 
as the board may establish, one of which shall prohibit the performance by him of 
any work, on any other account, similar to that performed under the regulations 
so established, except for the Normal College of the City of New York, and 
like institutions in the department of education. Any vacancy in the said office 
of superintendent of school buildings shall be filled by appointment for the 
unexpired term. 

Idem; deputy in each borough; plans for school buildings 

§ 1073 The superintendent of school buildings may appoint a deputy super- 
intendent for each of the boroughs, who shall be an architect or engineer in 
good standing, and, with the authority of the board of education, he may 
empower a deputy superintendent in his place and stead to execute all the 
duties of superintendent and such other duties as the board of education may, 
by regulation, prescribe. All plans for new school buildings, for additions to 
school buildings, and for structural changes in old buildings, shall be passed 
upon, and must be approved by the superintendent of school buildings, who shall 
submit such plans to the board of education, whose action thereon shall be final. 

Where a contract for the erection of a schoolhouse provides that the decision of the 
superintendent of school buildings on any question as to the execution of the contract 
8 



226 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

shall be final and conclusive upon the contractors, such decision is conclusive in the 
absence of fraud or plain and palpable mistake. Jones v. City of New York, 60 App. Div. 
161 ; 70 N. Y. Supp. 46. 

Idem; appointment of janitors 

§ 1074 Janitors shall be appointed by the board of education. 

A janitor may be removed by the board of education without trial or judicial hearing. 
The fact that he has been given a hearing does not make the action of the board a judicial 
determination reviewable by certiorari. People ex rel. Purcell v. Simonson, 66 App. Div. 
18; 72 N. Y. Supp. 957. 

Board of education; purchase of; and regulations regarding, supplies 

§ 1075 The board of education shall provide for the purchase of all books, 
apparatus, stationery and other things necessary and expedient to enable the 
schools of the city to be properly and successfully conducted. It shall cause 
to be furnished all necessary supplies, and shall make regulations for the 
furnishing thereof to the schools in the several boroughs. The board of educa- 
tion shall have power to enact by-laws and resolutions for the government 
of the superintendent of supplies, which by-laws and resolutions shall provide 
that all supplies, as far as possible, shall be obtained by contract, made at public 
letting in the manner provided by section 419 of this act. 

Superintendent of supplies; oath and security by; subject to regulations of 
board; vacancy; deputy superintendents and subordinates; depots of 
supplies 

§ 1076 The superintendent of school supplies shall take and subscribe before 
the secretary or the clerk of the board of education the oath prescribed by the 
constitution of this State, and shall give such security for the faithful perform- 
ance of the duties of his ofifice as the board of education may direct; and the 
bureau under his charge shall be subject to such rules and regulations as the 
board may establish. Any vacancy in the said office of superintendent of school 
supplies shall be filled by appointment for the unexpired term. The superin- 
tendent of school supplies may appoint such deputy superintendents and such 
other subordinates as the by-laws of the board of education may authorize, and 
he may, with the authority of said board, empower a deputy superintendent 
in his place and stead to execute all the duties of the superintendent, and such 
other duties as the board of education may by regulation prescribe. He shall 
establish such depots of supplies in any of the boroughs as may be authorized 
by the board of education. The superintendent of school supplies shall be the 
executive officer of the board in respect of the purchase, storing and distribution 
of all supplies for the use of the schools, the board of education, the officers 
and the employees thereof, the several local school boards and the office of the 
city superintendent ; the printing for the board and any of its officers, employees 
or departments, and the local school boards ; transportation of school children ; 
and such other matters as may be assigned to him as such executive officer by the 
by-laws of the board. He shall advertise for bids for supplies and equipments, 
for the use of the schools, the board of education or any of the bureaus thereof 



EDUCATION CODE 22/ 

and the several local school boards, which have been authorized by the board of 
education, and when such advertisement is required by law or the by-laws of 
the board. 

City superintendent of schools; rights and duties 
§ 1077 The city superintendent of schools shall have the right of visitation 
and inquiry in all of the schools of the city of New York as constituted under 
this act, and he shall report to the board of education on the educational system 
of the city, and upon the condition of any and all of the schools thereof. He 
shall have a seat in the board of education, and the right to speak on all matters 
before the board, but not to vote. 

Idem; further duties; annual report; clerks of main office 

§ 1078 The city superintendent of schools, so often as he can consistently 
with his other duties, shall visit the schools of the city as he shall see fit, and 
inquire into all matters relating to the government, course of instruction, 
methods of teaching, management and discipline of such schools, and the con- 
dition of the schoolhouses and of the schools generally; and shall advise and 
encourage the pupils and teachers and officers thereof; subject to the by-laws 
of the board of education, he shall prescribe suitable registers, blanks, forms 
and regulations for the making of all reports, and for conducting all necessary 
business connected with the school system and he shall cause the same, with 
such information and instructions as he shall deem conducive to the proper 
organization and government of the schools, and the due execution of their 
duties by school officers, to be transmitted to the officers or persons entrusted 
with the execution of the same. He shall submit to the board of education an 
annual report containing a statement of the conditions of the schools of the 
city, and all such matters relating to his office, and such plans and suggestions 
for the improvement of the schools and the school system, and for the advance- 
ment of public instruction in the city of New York as he shall deem expedient, 
and as the by-laws of the board of education may direct. He shall under the 
direction of the board of education enforce the compulsory education law, and 
shall nominate attendance officers to the board of education and shall direct such 
officers in their duties. He may appoint such clerks as he may deem necessary, 
and as are authorized by the board of education. He shall assign his clerks to the 
various duties, and may suspend or discharge them for cause, but in such case, 
the clerks shall have a right of appeal to the board of education. He shall report 
as often as the board of education shall direct upon any matter or matters, en- 
trusted to his charge, in such detail as shall be required of him. He shall mam- 
tain his main office in the borough of Manhattan, and in such building as the 
board of education shall direct. He shall have power, at any time, to call together 
any or all of the associate city superintendents and district superintendents for 
consultation, and shall assign to them, subject to the by-laws of the board of 
education, such duties as in his judgment will be conducive to the welfare of 
the pubHc schools of the city of New York. Twenty-three of the district super- 



228 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

intendents shall be assigned by the city superintendent to the work of supervision 
in the local school board districts, to be constituted as hereinafter provided, in 
such manner that one district superintendent shall be assigned to such duty 
in two of such districts for the period of one school year. At the end of such 
period the city superintendent shall have power to change such assignments as he 
may deem best for the interests of the school system, but only in the manner 
above provided. District superintendents when not so assigned to such duty in 
said districts shall be assigned by the city superintendent to such other profes- 
sional duties as the welfare of the school system may require. It shall further 
be the duty of the city superintendent to report any case of gross misconduct, 
insubordination, neglect of duty, or general inefficiency on the part of any associate 
city superintendent or district superintendent to the board of education. The 
city superintendent may empower an associate city superintendent to execute all 
the duties of the city superintendent during his absence or disability. {As 
amended by L. ipij, ch. ^5.) 

City superintendent, associate city superintendents, board of superintendents, 
district superintendents and directors 

§ 1079 There shall be eight associate city superintendents, who, with the city 
superintendents, shall constitute the board of superintendents. They shall be 
appointed by the board of education by a vote of a majority of its members, and 
shall serve for the term of six years, provided, however, that the borough super- 
intendents in office on the ist day of January, 1902, shall serve out as associate 
city superintendents the terms for which they were appointed by the respective 
borough school boards heretofore existing, and upon the expiration of their 
respective terms of office their successors shall be appointed in the manner and 
for the term herein provided, and provided also that the other four associate city 
superintendents shall be appointed from the associate borough superintendents in 
office on the ist day of January, 1902, and when so appointed they shall serve out 
as associate city superintendents the terms for which they were respectively 
appointed as such associate borough superintendents. The city superintendent 
shall preside over the board of superintendents, and all communications from the 
board shall be made in his name unless in any special case he may otherwise elect. 
The board of education shall have power to pass by-laws regulating the duties of 
the city superintendent and of the board of superintendents. There shall be twenty- 
six district superintendents to be appointed by the board of education for the term 
of six years upon the nomination of the board of superintendents, provided, 
however, that the associate borough superintendents in office on the ist day of 
January, 1902, shall serve out as associate city superintendents or as district 
superintendents the terms for which they were appointed as such associate 
borough superintendents by the respective borough school boards here- 
tofore existing; and upon the expiration of their respective terms of 
office their successors shall be appointed in the manner and for the 
term above provided. The offices of borough superintendent of schools 



EDUCATION CODS 229 

and associate borough superintendent of schools shall be abolished on the 
1st Monday of February, 1902. Except as herein otherwise provided, no person 
shall be eligible for election as city superintendent, associate city superintendent, 
or district superintendent who has not one of the following qualifications: (a) 
graduation from a college or university recognized by The University of the 
State of New York, together with at least five years of successful experience in 
teaching or supervision since graduation; (b) a principal's certificate for any of 
the boroughs of the city of New York obtained as a result of examination, 
together with ten years' successful experience in supervision or teaching. Resig- 
nations of the city superintendent and the associate city superintendents shall be 
made to the board of education. Resignations of the district superintendents 
and directors of special branches shall be made to the board of superintendents 
and shall be reported immediately to the board of education. The board of 
education shah have power, upon the nomination of the board of superintendents, 
to appoint such directors of special branches as it deems necessary, for the term 
of six years ; such directors shall be subject to the supervision and direction of the 
city superintendent. No person shall be eligible for election as director of a 
special branch, such as music, drawing, kindergarten, etc., who is not: (a) a 
graduate of a college or university recognized by The University of the State of 
New York; and (b) a graduate from a course of professional training of at 
least two years in the special branch that he is to supervise or teach; and (c) 
a teacher of that special branch with at least three years of successful experience. 
Nothing in this act contained shall prevent the reelection of any superintendent 
in office at the time of the passage of this act. 

General duties o£ district superintendents 

§ 1080 Under the supervision and direction of the city superintendent, district 
superintendents shall visit every school in the district to which they are assigned ; 
shall inquire into all matters relating to the government, courses of study, methods 
of teaching, discipline and conduct of such schools, and the condition of the 
schoolhouses and of the schools generally ; shall examine classes when necessary ; 
and shall advise, assist and encourage the pupils and teachers thereof. The 
district superintendents shall report the results of such inspections and examnia- 
tions to the city superintendent, who shall transmit such parts of said reports as 
he may consider necessary or proper to the board of education and to the local 
school boards for the districts for which the same are made respectively. Such 
reports shall be made at such times, concerning such matters, and in such form 
as said city superintendent shall require. It shall further be the duty of each 
district superintendent to report to the local school board within any district to 
which he is assigned, and through the city superintendent to the board of educa- 
tion, any case of gross misconduct, neglect of duty, or general inefficiency arising 
in such district on the part of any principal or teacher or other member of the 
educational staff within his jurisdiction. 



230 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Board of superintendents; list of principals etc., to be kept by; where 

principals report 
§ 1081 The board of superintendents shall keep a list of all principals and 
teachers in the service of the board of education in the several boroughs, with 
a record of the dates of their appointment, the grades and classes taught by them, 
and such other matters as the board of superintendents may prescribe. Such lists 
shall be open to the inspection of teachers (as to their own records only), of 
members of the board of education, of the members of the local school boards, 
of district superintendents, and of principals. Principals shall report to the city 
superintendent or to the district superintendent within their district at such times, 
upon such matters, and in such form as the city superintendent or such district 
superintendent may require. 

Promotion or transfer of pupils; rules and regulations 

§ 1082 The board of superintendents shall establish for the schools, subject to 
the approval of the board of education, rules and regulations for the reception of 
pupils in the schools of the city, the promotion of pupils from grade to grade, 
from school to school, for the graduation from all grades of schools, and for the 
transfer of pupils from one school to another. 

Recommendations of and requisitions for textbooks and scholastic supplies 

§ 1083 The board of education shall, upon the recommendation of the board 
of superintendents, approve textbooks, apparatus and other scholastic supolies 
for use in the public schools of the city. Requisitions for such textbooks, appa- 
ratus and scholastic supplies shall be made by principals upon the superintendent 
of supplies under rules to be established by the board of education, but no requi- 
sition for any school shall be honored unless it is approved in writing by the dis- 
trict superintendent of the district where such school is situated. 

Changing grades of schools and classes; courses of study 
§ 1084 The board of education shall have power to change the grades of ail 
schools and of all classes of the schools under its charge, and to adopt and modify 
courses of study for all schools. No such change or modification, however, shall 
be made unless such proposed change or modification is first submitted 
to the board of superintendents. The said board of superintendents shall there- 
upon within such time as the by-laws may prescribe and not less than forty days 
thereafter report thereon. In case such report is adverse, such change or modifi- 
cation shall not be effectual unless passed by a vote of two-thirds of all the 
members of the board of education. (As amended by L. 191 S, ch. /49.) 

Duties of the board of superintendents, city superintendent, district superin- 
tendents and supervisors with reference to special branches 

§ 1085 The board of superintendents, with the advice of the directors of the 
respective special branches, shall assign to the several school districts such teachers 



EDUCATION CODE 23 1 

of drawing, music, physical culture, manual training, cooking, sewing or other 
special branches as the board of education may appoint. The district superin- 
tendents shall assign such teachers of special branches to their duties in the 
schools of the several districts to which they are appointed. The directors of 
special branches shall act as advisers to the board of superintendents, to the 
district superintendents, and to principals, with regard to the special branches 
they supervise; under the direction of the city superintendent they shall examine 
the work in their several branches, report upon the same, and instruct special 
teachers and class teachers in the teaching of their several branches. 

Methods of teaching. Syllabuses of topics 
§ 1086 Subject to regulations prescribed by the board of superintendents, and 
under the supervision of the district superintendent in charge, the principal of 
each school shall direct the methods of teaching in all classes under his charge. 
The board of superintendents shall have the power, from time to time, to issue 
syllabuses of the topics in the various branches taught, which shall be regarded as 
the minimum amount of work required in such branches. 

Pov^^er to create local school board districts; presidents of the boroughs to 
appoint members of the local school boards; terms, organization etc., of 
local school boards 

§ 1087 Prior to the 15th day of February, 1902, the board of education shall 
divide the boroughs under its charge into forty-six local school board districts, 
of which twenty-two shall be wholly in the borough of Manhattan, fourteen 
wholly in the borough of Brooklyn, four wholly in the borough of the Bronx, 
four wholly in the borough of Queens, and two wholly in the borough of 
Richmond. The districts in each borough must be compact in form, and, as near 
as may be, of equal school attendance in the public schools therein. Subject 
to such conditions of equality of school aten dance and that the districts shall be 
compact in form, the board of education shall thereafter have power every five 
years, again to divide the said boroughs into said number of districts, making such 
changes in existing districts as it deems proper. Upon the division of the 
several boroughs into such districts, and upon any redivision thereof as above 
provided, the board of education shall file maps of the same, duly authenticated 
by the secretary of the board, in the office of the mayor of the city of New 
York, and at the same time shall also file in the office of the president of each 
borough a duphcate, similarly authenticated, of the portion of said maps showmg 
the division or redivision of such borough into such districts. There shall be 
in each of said districts a local school board consisting of seven members, as 
follows : Five persons to be appointed by the president of the borough, a member 
of the board of education designated by the president of that board, as hereinafter 
provided, and the district superintendent assigned to duty in such district by the 
city superintendent, as hereinbefore provided. When the board of education, 
pursuant to the powers above conferred, shall have divided any borough or 



232 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

boroughs into local school board districts, the presidents of the boroughs in which 
such districts are located respectively s'hall, within thirty days thereafter, appoint 
in and for each of such districts five members of the local school board to hold 
office respectively as may be designated in their letters of appointment, for 
one, two, three, four or five years from the ist day of January next following the 
date of their appointments. Upon the expiration of their respective terms, such 
presidents shall appoint their successors for the full term of five years. Where 
boundaries of any of the local school board districts shall be changed by a 
redivision of a borough or any part thereof, the board of education shall have 
power, and it shall be its duty, to designate the new districts within which the 
local school boards appointed for districts affected by such redivision shall 
thereafter act. Such designation shall be made in such manner that the new 
district within which any local school board shall thereafter act shall contain 
a portion of the district for which such board was originally appointed. Within 
such new districts respectively the said local school boards shall have the same 
powers, duties and functions theretofore exercised by them within the districts 
for which they were originally appointed ; and they shall serve out as members 
of the local school board for such new districts the term of office for which they 
were appointed respectively. All members of local school boards shall serve 
without pay, and shall be residents of the districts in and for which they are ap- 
pointed, except that where local school boards are designated by the board of edu- 
cation to act in new districts created as aforesaid, it shall not be necessary for the 
members thereof to be residents of such districts during the remainder of their 
terms of office respectively. Any vacancy in any local school board caused by 
death, resignation or otherwise, shall be filled for the unexpired term by the 
president of the borough where such vacancy may occur. Each local school 
board shall, within ten days after all the members thereof shall have been 
appointed, in the year 1902, and on the second Monday of January in every year 
thereafter, organize by the election of two of its members as chairman and 
secretary. It shall meet as often as may be necessary for the efficient perform- 
ance of the duties imposed upon it, and not less than once in each month excepting 
July and August. The president of the board of education shall designate each 
member of the said board to be an ex officio member of one local school board 
within the borough where such member shall reside, and he shall serve as a 
member of such local school board for the term of one year or until the earlier 
expiration of his term of office as a member of the board of education. When 
a member of the board of education shall cease for any cause to be a member of 
the local school board to which he is designated, the president of the board of 
education shall designate his successor as above provided. A member of the 
board of education sitting as a member of a local school board shall have power 
to vote, but shall not be eligible for election as the chairmaa or secretary of such 
board. The district superintendent assigned to any local school board district 
as herein provided shall have a seat in the local school board district^ for such 



^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 233 

district, and the right to speak on all matters before the board. But he shall 
not have the right to vote or be eligible for election as chairman or secretary of 
the board. The powers, duties and functions of the inspectors of common schools 
in office on the 31st day of December, 1901, shall continue until the 15th day of 
February, 1902, or until the earlier division of the said boroughs into local school 
board districts as above provided, when they shall cease and determine and the 
offices of said inspectors shall thereupon be abolished. 

Duties of local school boards 

§ 1088 Subject to regulation by the by-laws of the board of education, the 
duties and powers of the local boards shall be as follows: (a) In their respective 
districts, they shall visit, at least once in every quarter, all the schools in the 
district, and inspect the same in respect to punctual and regular attendance of the 
pupils and teachers, the number and fidelity of the teachers, the studies, progress, 
order and discipline of the pupils, the cleanliness, safety, warming, ventilation and 
comfort of school premises, and the observance of the provisions of the school 
laws in respect to the teaching of sectarian doctrines or the use of sectarian 
books ; and shall call the attention of the board of education, without delay, to 
every matter requiring official action. They shall also, on or before the ist day 
of January and June of each year, make a written report to the board of education 
in respect to the condition of the schools, the efficiency of teachers, and wants 
of the district, especially in regard to schools and school premises. (&) They 
shall report immediately to the board of education whenever additional accom- 
modation is necessary for kindergarten or elementary school purposes, with a 
recommendation of the sites within their respective districts which they consider 
it necessary to acquire for such purposes. They shall also recommend the 
erection of such buildings on said sites or on any other property owned by the 
city of New York, and such repairs or alterations of school buildings, as they 
deem necessary or desirable. They shall from time to time when additional school 
accommodation is necessary report to the board of education premises which 
are suitable and may be hired for that purpose, with the terms upon which the 
same may be obtained ; such report shall be accompanied by a certificate from the 
borough president that the premises so recommended comply with the law and 
ordinances in relation to buildings to be used for school purposes, (c) They 
shall report immediately to the board of education any dereliction of duty on the 
part of the superintendent of supplies, superintendent of school buildings, the 
city superintendent, or any of their deputies or assistants or the employees in their 
respective departments, and they shall present to the board of education all of 
the facts and circumstances constituting such dereliction of duty, (d) They shall 
have power to excuse absences of teachers, within their respective districts, 
subject, however, to the approval of the board of superintendents in cases where 
teachers are excused with pay, and in accordance with by-laws of the board of 
education prescribing rules to govern all such cases, (e) They shall try and 
determine all matters relating t-^ discipline, corporal punishment and other matters 



234 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

affecting the administration of the schools in their respective districts arising upon 
the complaint of pupils, parents or guardians against teachers or principals, and 
shall impose such penalties as may be prescribed by the by-laws of the board 
of education. But they shall not have power to pass upon any such complaint 
against a teacher until after the matter has been referred to the principal of the 
school in which such teacher is employed, and he has made a report thereon. 
(/) They shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to try charges made by a 
principal, a district superintendent or by any parent or guardian of a pupil, 
residing in the district, against a teacher employed within their respective districts, 
for gross misconduct, insubordination, neglect of duty or inefficiency. On 
receiving notice of said charges they shall immediately proceed to try and 
determine the case and shall fix the penalty or punishment to be imposed for the 
offense committed, which shall consist of a fine, suspension for a fixed time 
without pay, or dismissal. Their determination upon such charges and the 
penalty or punishment imposed therefor shall be reported immediately to the 
board of education, which may reject, confirm or modify the determinations of 
the local board, and the penalty or punishment imposed and the decision of the 
board shall be final except as to matters in relation to which, under the general 
school laws of the State, an appeal may be taken to the State Superintendent of 
Public Instruction, {g) They shall present charges of any dereliction of duty 
on the part of janitors in their respective districts and present proof thereof to 
the board of education, {h) They shall procure the enforcement of the law 
and the by-laws of the board of education relating to the sanitary condition of 
the schools and the health of the pupils in their respective districts, {i) They 
shall have power to transfer teachers from school to school within their respective 
districts, but only after hearing the principals of the schools affected by such 
transfers, and subject to the approval of the board of superintendents, provided, 
however, that such transfer shall not involve promotion or increase of salary. 
(_/") They shall report to the board of education and to the board of superintend- 
ents all vacancies in the teaching force as soon as such vacancies shall occur. 
{k) Each local school board shall have power and it shall be its duty to adopt 
by-laws regulating the exercise of all powers and duties vested in it, which 
by-laws shall not conflict with the by-laws of the board of education or with 
the provisions of this chapter. Each local school board shall keep a record of the 
proceedings of the meetings of the board, which shall be open at all times to 
inspection by the board of education or any member thereof. The board of 
education shall from time to time provide for such expenses and furnish such 
clerical assistance as may be necessary for the proper performance by the local 
school boards of the city of the duties imposed upon them by this act. The 
secretary of a local school board shall have charge of the books, papers and 
documents of the board. He is hereby authorized to administer oaths and take 
affidavits in all matters pertaining to the schools of the city of New York in 
his district, in which a local school board has power to act, and for that purpose 
shall possess all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but shall not be entitled 



EDUCATION CODE 235 

to any fees or emoluments thereof. The board of education shall provide meeting 
places for the local school boards, which may be in any of the school buildings 
in their respective districts. 

A refusal to excuse absences of a teacher, even though on account of illness, is 
within the discretionary power of the board. Murphy v. Board of Education, 38 Misc. 
706 ; 78 N. Y. Supp. 248, aff'd 87 App. Div. 277 ; 84 N. Y. Supp. 380. 

Board of examiners; teachers' licenses, etc. 

§ 1089 A board of examiners is hereby constituted whose duty it shall be to 
examine all applicants who are required to be licensed in and for the city of New 
York, and to issue to those who pass the required tests of character, scholarship 
and general fitness, such licenses as they are found entitled to receive. Such 
board of examiners shall consist of the city superintendent of schools, together 
with four persons appointed by the board of education upon the nomination of 
the city superintendent. The terms of the first four examiners so appointed shall 
be one, two, three and four years, respectively, and as their terms respectively 
expire, their successors shall be appointed for a full term of six years, which 
shall thereafter be the full and regular term of office of said examiners. They 
shall be paid such compensation as the board of education shall prescribe. The 
city superintendent of schools shall have power with the consent of the board of 
education to employ assistants temporarily at rates to be fixed by the board of 
education. To be eligible to appointment as an examiner, an applicant must pos- 
sess some one of the following qualifications, to wit: (a) A degree or diploma 
of graduation from a college or university recognized by the Regents of The Uni- 
versity of the State of New York, together with at least five years' successful expe- 
rience in teaching since graduation, (b) A state certificate obtained as the result 
of an examination held since 1875, together with at least ten years' successful 
experience in teaching, (c) The highest certificate for a principal or superin- 
tendent in force when this act takes efifect in any city included in the city of New 
York as constituted by this act, together with at least ten years' successful expe- 
rience in teaching. No associate city superintendent, district superintendent, prin- 
cipal or teacher in the city of New York shall be allowed to serve on the board of 
examiners. The board of education on the recommendation of the board of 
superintendents shall designate, subject to the requirements of the State school 
law in force when this act takes effect or that may thereafter be enacted, the kinds 
or grades of licenses to teach which may or shall be used in the city of New York, 
together with the academic and professional qualifications required for each kind 
or grade of license. The board of education, on the recommendation of the board 
of superintendents, shall also designate, subject to the like limitations, the academ- 
ical and professional qualifications required for service of principals, branch prm- 
cipals, supervisors, heads of departments, assistants and all other members of the 
teaching staff. The board of examiners shall hold such examinations as the city 
superintendent may prescribe, and shall prepare all necessary eligible lists, which 
shall be kept in the office of the city superintendent of schools, and be open to 



236 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

inspection by members of the board of education, associate city superintendents 
and district superintendents, and local school boards. All licenses shall be issued 
in the name of the city superintendent of schools. Graduates of colleges and 
universities recognized by the Regents of The University of the State of New 
York, who have pursued for not less than one year pedagogical courses satisfac- 
tory to the city superintendent ; graduates of schools and colleges for the train- 
ing of teachers, approved by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction; and 
teachers holding a state certificate issued by the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction since the year 1875, or holding a college graduate's certificate issued 
by the same authority, or persons who on the first Monday of February, 1902, 
shall be associate borough superintendent of schools in any borough of the city 
of New York, may be exempted, in whole or in part, from such examination at 
the discretion of the city superintendent. The names of those to whom licenses 
have been granted, including those exempted from examination and those duly 
licensed in the several boroughs prior to the date on which this act takes effect, 
shall be entered by the city superintendent upon lists to be filed in his office, a 
separate list being made for each grade or kind of license for which the board of 
education shall by its by-laws make provision. Such eligible lists shall not be 
merged and one eligible list shall be exhausted before nominations are made from 
a list of subsequent date. Provided, however, no eligible list shall remain in force 
for a period longer than three years, excepting the principals' eligible list, which 
shall remain in full force and effect until exhausted. Such Hsts shall always be 
open to the inspection of the members of the board of education, the members of 
the local school boards, the associate city superintendents, the district superintend- 
ents, and the principals of schools. Except as city superintendent or associate 
city superintendent or district superintendent, as director of a special branch, as 
prmcipal of or teacher in a training school or as principal of a high school, no 
person shall be appointed to any educational position whose name does not appear 
upon the proper eligible list. No person shall teach in any public school in the 
city who has not such license, except as herein otherwise provided, nor shall any 
unlicensed teacher have any claim for salary. Licenses to teach shall be issued 
by the city superintendent of schools for a period of one year, which may be 
renewed without examination in case the work of the holder is satisfactory to the 
city superintendent for two successive years. At the close of the third year of 
continuous, successful service, the city superintendent may make the license per- 
manent. Authority to revoke any permanent license for cause shall be vested in 
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. (As amended by L. iqoi, ch. 
718; L. igi2. ch. 45 j.) 

The city superintendent is made the custodian of the lists and there is imposed upon him 
the duty of preparing such lists and filing them in his office. Hence he, and not the board 
of examiners, is the proper party against whom mandamus should be brought to compel the 
placing of a name on the Hsts. Matter of Schlivinski v. Maxwell, 80 App. Div. 313; 80 
N. Y. Supp. 726. 

The power to issue Ucenses is purely executive, ministerial or administrative and 
not m any sense judicial, and hence can not be reviewed by certiorari. Matter of Walker 
V. Maxwell, 68 App. Div. 196; 74 N. Y. Supp. 94. 



EDUCATION CODE 237 

The provision as to making the license permanent is not mandatory ; and the fact 
that the probationary term of three years of a person teaching under a temporary hcense 
is extended by the city superintendent by special license, does not entitle the licensee to 
receive a permanent license. People ex rel. Finigan v. Bd. of Education, 106 App. Div. 
loi ; 94 N. Y. Supp. 61 ; aff'd 192 N. Y. 572. 

Discrimination between males and females. The board of education has a wide dis- 
cretion in determining whether a given position shall be filled by a man or a woman ; so it 
may make separate eligible lists for male and female teachers, and may appoint a male 
of a lower relative standing to a position which, in the exercise of a reasonable discretion, 
the board determines should be filled by a man. Fitzpatrick v. Board of Education, 69 Misc. 
78; 125 N. Y. Supp. 954. 

Separate lists for men and women license holders and different qualifications for men 
and women applicants for licenses may be prescribed by the board of education in its 
discretion. Matter of Schlivinski v. Maxwell, 80 App. Div. 313 ; 80 N. Y. Supp. 726. 

A person holding a temporary license to teach is not entitled to mandamus to reinstate 
her in her position as teacher, even though such license was granted prior to the taking effect 
of the charter. People ex rel. Christie v. Bd. of Education, 56 App. Div. 368; 67 N. Y. 
Supp. 836 ; aff'd 167 N. Y. 626. 

Persons licensed prior to charter. The charter provides that the city superintendent 
shall make up a single list of all persons ehgible to appointment as principals of schools, 
and this list must include the names of those licensed prior to the time the charter went into 
effect. People ex rel. Goldey v. Maxwell, 65 App. Div. 265, 72 N. Y. Supp. 527; aff'd 
169 N. Y. 608. 

But this section relates only to those engaged in teaching within the limits of Greater 
New York at the time the charter went into effect. So, a person licensed in 1855 and who 
taught in the grammar schools of New York City from 1861 to 1865, but has had no 
connection with such schools since, is not entitled to have his name placed upon a list 
of eligibles for the position of principal as provided by this section. The court may take 
judicial notice that the methods of instruction have so changed in the last quarter of a 
century that those who were competent to teach then would not necessarily be qualified to 
teach now. People ex rel. Sprague v. Maxwell, 87 App. Div. 391 ; 84 N. Y. Supp. 947. 

The provision that the teachers Hcensed in the several boroughs prior to the adoption 
of the charter shall be included in the eligible lists prepared by the city superintendent, 
applies only to teachers actually engaged in teaching at the time the charter took effect, 
and not to a person who, although having previously taught, resigned prior to that time. 
Matter of Walker, 120 App. Div. 571; 105 N. Y. Supp. 533; aff'd 190 N. Y. 566. 

A grade "A" license of the former city of Brooklyn does not entitle the holder to an 
appointment as head of a department in the schools of Greater New York. Hazen v. Board 
of Education, 127 App. Div. 235; iii N. Y. Supp. 337. 

Teacher in the town of Flushing. The mere fact that a person, holding a second grade 
school commissioner's certificate, was a teacher in a public school in the town of Flushing 
at the time that town was incorporated into Greater New York, did not constitute that 
person a member of the teaching staff of the greater city, nor did the issuance to her 
thereafter of a first grade school commissioner's certificate affect her status- as a member 
of the teaching force of the city. People ex rel. Finegan v. Bd. of Education, 106 App. Div. 
loi ; 94 N. Y. Supp. 61 ; aff'd 192 N. Y. 572. 

Appointment and resignation of principals and teachers 

§ 1090 Principals, branch principals, heads of departments, teachers, assistants 
and all other members of the teaching stafif, shall be appointed by the board of 
education on the nomination of the board of superintendents. Such nominations 
and appointments shall be made except in the case of high schools or training 



22)8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

schools for teachers, for the several local school board districts respectively, and 
when so made the principals, branch principals, heads of departments, teachers, 
assistants and all other members of the teaching staff shall be assigned to duty 
to such schools, and to such positions in such schools, as the board of superin- 
tendents shall determine. Where practicable, teachers shall be appointed for dis- 
tricts in the boroughs where they reside. Teachers and principals may be pro- 
moted or transferred from one school to any other school within the city by the 
board of superintendents subject to the approval of the board of education; pro- 
vided, however, that a teacher shall not be transferred from a school in one bor- 
ough to a school in another borough without his or her consent. For all pur- 
poses affecting the appointment, promotion or transfer of the teachers in any 
school, the district superintendent assigned to the district in which such school is 
situated, the principal of such school and, in the case of transfer, the district 
superintendent and the principal of the school to which it is proposed to transfer 
a teacher, shall have seats in the board of superintendents, with votes on such 
proposition. The provisions of this section shall not be held to affect or impair 
the power of the several local school boards to transfer teachers from school to 
school within their respective districts, as hereinbefore provided. The nomina- 
tions provided for above must be made from the list of properly certificated prin- 
cipals and teachers and other persons eligible for service in the positions to be 
filled, in the regular order of the standing of the candidates on said lists, provided, 
however, that the board of superintendents may consider for each appomtment 
the three persons whose names are highest on the appropriate eligible lists. Exist- 
ing eligible lists in the city of New York and the relative standing of persons 
whose names are on said lists shall not be effected by the passage of this act. The 
time within which said board of education shall finally act upon said nominations, 
either by appointing such principal or teacher or other oflicer or by rejecting such 
nominations, is hereby fixed at forty days from the filing of such recommendation 
in the office of the secretary of the board. The failure on the part of the board 
of education to confirm or to reject a nomination within the time prescribed herein 
shall be held as equivalent to the appointment of the principal or teacher nomi- 
nated. In case of a failure or of repeated failures to appoint, other names shall 
be submitted to the board of education for its consideration within two weeks 
after each failure, until an appointment is made. In case of the consolidation 
of schools or of the discontinuance of any school, principals and teachers of 
good standing, who thereby may be deprived of employment, shall be preferred in 
appointments to be made in any of the schools of the city. Resignations of prin- 
cipals and teachers, and of all other members of the teaching staff, shall be made 
to the city superintendent. 

Mandamus to compel appointment of petitioner to position of assistant to the principal 
or head of department on the nomination of the board of superintendents, will be denied 
where application was not made within forty days from filing such recommendation and 
while a vacancy existed to which the board of education could have appointed the petitioner. 
Norman v. Board of Education, 203 N. Y. 548, aff'g 142 App. Div. 939. 



EDUCATION CODE 239 

A principal may be transferred to another borough without his consent. In the require- 
ment of the consent of a teacher to such transfer, the word teacher is not used generically 
to include principal. Matter of Barringer v. Board of Education, 140 App. Div. 903 ; 125 
N. Y. Supp. 540. 

Senior teachers. Under the by-laws of the board of education providing that in certain 
schools extra compensation be paid to the teacher of highest grade for acting as senior 
teacher, such a teacher who was appointed by the principal of the school to the knowledge of 
the district superintendent so to act, can recover the additional compensation, although not 
appointed either by the school board or later by the board of education. Whether acceptance 
of his regular salary estops him from claiming the extra compensation is a question for 
the jury. Dildine v. Board of Education, 133 App. Div. 262; 117 N. Y. Supp. 578. 

A principal of a night school, who was also principal of a day school, is not entitled to 
preference in appointment to the principalship of a night school when through the discon- 
tinuance of a night school he is thrown out of his position as principal thereof. He was 
not deprived of his employment as he still remains principal of the day school and is still 
in the employment of the school authorities. It is the deprivation of employment which 
creates the right to a preference, and not a mere reduction in its scope and extent. Matter 
of Cusack V. Bd. of Education, 89 App. Div. 355; 85 N. Y. Supp. 991. 

Temporary service. The mere fact that a school teacher temporarily performs the duties 
of a higher grade than that to which she is appointed, until it is finally filled by another 
appointment, does not ipso facto entitle her to the higher grade or to the salary attached 
thereto. Hoefling v. Board of Education, 120 App. Div. 545; 104 N. Y. Supp. 94i- 

One designated to act temporarily as head of department is not appointed to the latter 
position nor entitled to the salary thereof. Hazen v. Board of Education, 127 App. Div. 
23s; III N. Y. Supp. 227', Gormley v. Board of Education, 129 N. Y. Supp. i53- 

Appointment without necessary qualification. An attempted appointment to the position 
of vice principal of a school is invalid where the appointee does not hold the license pre- 
scribed by the city superintendent of schools. Gormerly v. Board of Education, 129 N. Y. 
Supp. 153. 

Holder of teacher's license issued by former city of Brooklyn. The board of education 
has no power to provide that the holder of a grade "A" teachers license issued by the 
former city of Brooklyn shall not be eligible for promotion to any grade in the last two 
years of the elementary school course unless he pass certain examinations and possess 
certain qualifications. The duty imposed upon the school authorities of placing the names 
of holders of grade "A" licenses upon the special list of those eligible for promotion is 
neither judicial nor discretionary, but is ministerial and a writ of mandamus will issue to 
compel itb peformance. The right of holders of such licenses to have their names placed 
on the list for promotion is not affected by the fact that their percentage ratings have been 
lost, as their names may be arranged on the list in the order in which their licenses were 
issued. Matter of Brooklyn Teachers' Assn., 85 App. Div. 47; 83 N. Y. Supp. i; aff'd 176 
N. Y. 564. 

Board of education ; power to fix salaries ; method, regulating 

§ 1091 The board of education shall have power to adopt by-laws fixing the 
salaries of all members of the supervising and the teaching stafif ; and the salaries 
of all principals and teachers shall be regulated by merit, grade of class taught, 
length of service, experience in teaching, or by a combination of these consider- 
ations. Such by-laws shall establish a uniform schedule of salaries for the super- 
vising and the teaching staff throughout all boroughs. 

The salaries of the members of the supervising and teaching stafifs shall be as 
follows : 



240 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

The salary, including the annual increment, to which a present member is enti- 
tled under a specific salary schedule now existing shall not be reduced, nor shall 
any position in the elementary schools to which any member of the supervising or 
teaching staff was eligible on December 31, 1911, be abolished by the operation of 
this act. Beginning with the ist day of January, 1912, third month following the 
taking effect of this act, the salaries, including the annual increments, of all mem- 
bers shall be not less than those fixed in the schedules and schedule conditions 
approved by the board of education on the 17th and 24th days of May, 1911. 
After said date, if a present male member be advanced to a position higher in 
rank, his salary including the annual increment, in the advanced position shall be 
not less than the compensation provided by statute for the position on the ist day 
of July, 191 1, nor less than that received by him immediately prior to such ad- 
vance. 

The salary and annual increment of any male person, who was,„ on Decembeir 31, 
191 1, on an eligible list for license number one, or who was, on that date, serving 
as a pupil teacher in the fourth term work of any training school for teachers in 
said city, or who was, on that date, a student in any such training school, and who 
was appointed, after said date, from an eligible list for Hcense number one, or 
who, as a regularly matriculated student in any college located in the city of New 
York and recognized by the Regents of the University of the State of New York, 
had, prior to said date, completed or entered upon a regularly prescribed course 
approved by the State Commissioner of Education, in the department of education 
in such college, and who was appomted, after said date, from an eligible list for 
Hcense number one, or who had resigned from the teaching force of the public 
school system of the city of New York, prior to December 31, 191 1, and was, after 
said date, reappointed from an eligible list for license number one, shall be not 
less than the compensation provided by statute for the position on the first day 
of July, 191 1. 

The salary of a principal, assistant to principal, head of a department or 
male teacher in the grades of the seventh and eighth years appointed to teach in 
elementary schools prior to January i, 1912, shall be not less than that now fixed 
for any regular teacher in the elementary schools. In the schedules of salaries 
hereafter adopted there shall be no discrimination based on the sex of the mem- 
ber, except as hereinbefore provided. A copy of such schedules and schedule 
conditions approved by the board of education on the 17th and 24th days of May, 
191 1, certified by the secretary of the board, shall, within thirty days hereafter, 
be filed in the office of the Secretary of State. 

The board of examiners shall issue to a principal or a teacher who has had 
experience in schools other than the schools in the city of New York, a certificate 
stating that the experience of such teacher is equivalent to a certain number of 
years of experience in the schools of the said city. The board of examiners shall 
issue to a principal or teacher who has had experience in schools other than the 
high and training schools of the city of New York, a certificate stating that the 
experience of such teacher is equivalent to a certain number of years of experience 



EDUCATION CODE 24! 

in the high and training schools of the said city. Such certificates made by the 
board of examiners shall be final and conclusive on all matters pertaining to expe- 
rience therein stated, and shall entitle their holders to salaries in accordance with 
the schedules of salaries established in conformity with this section, in like manner 
as though the years mentioned in such certificates had been served in those schools 
of the city of New York that are respectively mentioned in such certificates. 
(As amended by L. ipii, ch. p02; L. ipi2, ch. 459; L. igis, chs. 534, 838; 
L. 191 4, ch. 264.) 

The scheme of compensation to teachers in the school system beginning with the 
creation of the greater city has been on a basis of progression, regulated by length of 
service and by experience in teaching. Holmes v. Board of Education, 120 N. Y. Supp. 284. 

Claims for withheld salaries by high school teachers are liquidated claims; and interest 
on the same may be recovered from the time the claims accrued. Holmes v. Board of 
Education, 120 N. Y. Supp. 284. 

Annual increment. The provision authorizing the board of education to fix a uniform 
schedule of salaries, was intended to bring about uniformity of salaries immediately, or so 
soon as it can be accomplished without reducing salaries. Hence, when the board adopts a 
schedule fixing the minimum and maximum salaries of women principals of a certain grade 
with provision for an annual increase until a maximum is reached, a principal in that grade 
whose salary, at the time of the adoption of the schedule, exceeded the minimum was not 
entitled to the annual increase until the salaries of other principals of the same grade 
equal hers by the yearly increase adopted. McHench v. Board of Education, 127 App. Div. 
294; III N. Y. Supp. 303. 

The spirit of the section requires that existing salaries, when above the minimum re- 
quired by the schedule adopted, should be continued until the end of the school year and 
that the individual be then placed under the proper schedule, provided his salary be not 
reduced in so doing. Loewy v. Board of Education, 59 Misc. 70; 112 N. Y. Supp. 4. 

Experience in schools other than high and training schools of city. The action of 
the board of examiners in refusing the relator a certificate that her prior experience is 
equivalent to any experience in the high and training schools is not judicial or quasi- 
judicial, where it does not appear that any testimony was taken by the board, or that the 
action of the board was the result of conflicting claims urged by adversaries, or the findmg 
of fact based on the presentation of conflicting evidence; but such action was rather a 
decision based on the exercise of discretion and judgment peculiar to the members of the 
board. Hence a common-law writ of certiorari will not issue to review the action of the 
board, such writ issuing only to review decisions of inferior judicial or quasi-judicial 
tribunals. People ex rel. McNulty v. Maxwell, 123 App. Div. 591; 1108 N. Y. Supp. 49. 

Reduction of salary. A school principal has no vested right in her salary. Her relation 
with the board of education is contractual, and her contractual right is affected by the 
statute which gives the board power to make by-laws fixing salaries. So the board may 
reduce the salary she is receiving, though not below the minimum established by statute. 
Buckbee v. Board of Education, 115 App. Div. 366; 100 N. Y. Supp. 943, rev'g 51 Misc. 295; 
100 N. Y. Supp. 1063. 

Temporary service. The mere fact that a school teacher temporarily performs the 
duties of a higher grade than that to which she is appointed, until it is finally hlled by 
another appointment, does not ipso facto entitle her to the higher grade or to the salary 
attached thereto. Hoefling v. Board of Education, 120 App. Div. 545; 104 N. Y. Supp. 
941; Hazen v. Board of Education, 127 App. Div. 235; in N. Y. Supp. 337; Thomas v. 
Board of Education, 201 N. Y. 457, aff'g 136 App. Div. 721; 121 N. Y. Supp. 491; 
Wood V. Board of Education, 59 Misc. 605; 112 N. Y. Supp. 578. 

A teacher in an evening school is not a public officer nor is his salary a compensation 



242 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

within the meaning of this section and is not governed thereby; in the absence of special 
agreement, the by-laws of the board as to the compensation of such a teacher must be 
deemed a part of his contract of employment, and his salary may be reduced in accordance 
therewith. Morris v. Board of Education, 54 Misc. 605; 104 N. Y. Supp. 979; aff'd 124 
App. Div. 921. 

The salary of a janitor of a public school is fixed by the board of aldermen. The 
charter gives that board, upon recommendation of the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment, the power to fix all salaries paid out of the city treasury, with certain exceptions, 
and there is no authority given the board of education to fix the salaries of janitors of 
schools though the power to appoint them is specially delegated to the latter board by 
section 1074 of the charter. People ex rel. Ajas v. Board of Education, 104 App. Div. 
162; 93 N. Y. Supp. 300; Farrell v. Board of Education, 113 App. Div. 405; 98 N. Y. Supp. 
1046; Lester v. Board of Education, 119 N. Y. Supp. 887. 

The salary of a janitor is regulated by the revised charter of the city of New York 
and is not within the scope of the provisions of the labor law which provide that laborers 
on public works be paid the prevailing rate of wages paid to laborers not engaged upon 
public works. So a janitor can not recover in excess of the wages he receives on the 
theory that other janitors are paid higher wages. Farrell v. Board of Education, 113 
App. Div. 405; 98 N. Y. Supp. 1046. 

The salary of a statistician in the employ of the department of education in the city 
of New York is to be fixed by the board of aldermen to the exclusion of the board of 
education. He is neither a member of the supervising or the teaching staff. Hogan v. 
Board of Education, 200 N. Y. 370, aff'g 137 App. Div. 255; 127 N. Y. Supp. 924. 

A by-law adopted by the school board of Brooklyn construed with this section as 
amended. Holmes v. Board of Education, 120 N. Y. Supp. 284. 

Public school teachers retirement fund 
§ 1092 The general care and management of the public school teachers retire- 
ment fund created for the former city of New York by chapter 296 of the Laws 
of 1894, and of the public school teachers retirement fund created for the former 
city of Brooklyn, by chapter 656 of the Laws of 1895, is hereby given to the board 
of education, and the said funds are hereby made parts of the retirement fund of 
the board of education of the city of New York created by this act. The board 
of education shall from time to time, establish such rules and regulations for the 
administration of said fund as it may deem best, which rules and regulations shall 
preserve all rights inhering in the teachers of the city of New York and the city 
of Brooklyn as constituted prior to the passage of this act; and said board shall 
make payments from said fund of annuities granted in pursuance of this act. 
The comptroller of the city of New York shall hold and invest all money belong- 
ing to said fund, and by direction of said board of education shall pay out the 
same ; and he shall report in detail to the board of education of the city of New 
York, annually, in the month of January, the condition of said fund and the items 
of the receipts and disbursements on account of the same. The said retirement 
fund shall consist of the following, with the interest and income thereof: (i) 
All money, pay, compensation or salary, or any income thereof forfeited, de- 
ducted, reserved, or withheld for any cause from any member or members of the 
teaching or supervising staff of the public day schools of the city of New York or 
of the normal college and training department of the Normal College of the City 



EDUCATION CODE 243 

of New York, or of schools or classes maintained in institutions controlled by the 
department of public charities or by the department of correction, in pursuance 
of rules established or to be established by the board of education, or by the board 
of trustees of the. Normal College of the City of New York, or by the commis- 
sioner of public charities, or by the commissioner of correction for schools or 
classes maintained by such commissioners respectively. The auditor of the board 
of education, the auditor of the board of trustees of the normal college, the com- 
missioner of public charities, and the commissioner of correction shall certify 
monthly to the comptroller the amounts so forfeited, deducted, reserved or with- 
held during the preceding month. Said amounts shall be turned into the said re- 
tirement fund. (2) All moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests, 
or otherwise for or on account of said fund. (3) Five per centum annually of all 
excise moneys or license fees belonging to the city of New York, and derived or 
received by any commissioner of excise or public officer from the granting of 
licenses or premission to sell strong or spirituous liquors, ale, wine, or beer in the 
city of New York, under the provisions of any law of this State authorizing the 
granting of such license or permission. (4) One per centum of the salaries of 
all members of the teaching and supervising staff of the public day schools of the 
city of New York, and of the normal college and training department of the Nor- 
mal College of the City of New York, and of schools or classes maintained in 
institutions controlled by the department of public charities or by the department 
of correction of the city of New York, except that the amount deducted from the 
salary of any teacher or principal of the public day schools of the city of New 
York or of schools or classes maintained in institutions controlled by the depart- 
ment of public charities or by the department of correction of the city of New 
York, in this manner, shall not exceed thirty dollars in any one year, and the 
amount deducted from the salary of any supervising official, in this manner, shall 
not exceed forty dollars in any one year. And the board of education, the board 
of trustees of the normal college, the commissioner of public charities, and the 
commissioner of correction shall, after the passage of this act, deduct on each and 
every pay roll of the said teaching and supervising stafif said one per centum from 
each and every amount earnable in the period covered by the said pay roll, not- 
withstanding the minimum salaries provided for by section 109 1 of the charter 
shall be thereby reduced, and shall certify monthly to the comptroller, the amounts 
so deducted ; and said amounts shall be turned into the said retirement fund. All 
deductions made under the provisions of this clause from the salary of any per- 
son who may be dismissed from the service for cause, before said person shall 
have become eligible for retirement, under the provisions of this act, shall be 
refunded to said person upon such dismissal. (5) All such other methods of 
increment as may be duly and legally devised for the increase of said fund. The 
moneys standing to the credit of the retirement fund on the 31st of December, 
1904, after subtracting therefrom any amounts forfeited, deducted, reserved or 
withheld from salaries for absences prior to that date, which may, on excuse of 
absence, be refunded after that date, all excise moneys of 1904 which may have 



244 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

been credited to said fund on or before that date, and all interest for 1904 on said 
fund, which may have been credited to said fund on or before said date, shall be 
set apart by the comptroller as a permanent fund. The unexpended balances of 
the income of the teachers retirement fund for the year 1905, and for all subse- 
quent years shall be added to the said permanent fund. The comptroller shall 
invest the said permanent fund, and the income thereof may be used for the pay- 
ment of annuities, but if necessary, in order to carry out the provisions of this 
act, the board of education may use any portion of the permanent fund in excess 
of eight hundred thousand dollars in the same manner as the income thereof. 
The president of the board of education, the chairman of the committee on ele- 
mentary schools of said board, the chairman of the committee on high schools of 
said board, the city superintendent of. schools, and three members to be selected 
from the principals, assistants to principals and teachers of the public day schools 
shall constitute a board of retirement. The three last named members shall be 
chosen as follows : On the second Thursday of May in each year the principals, 
assistants to principals and teachers in each district shall meet at the call of the 
district superintendent, which call he shall issue at least one week before said 
meeting, and at a place within the district designated by him, to select by ballot 
one of their number as district representative to serve for one year. At the close 
of said meeting, the presiding officer shall transmit to the secretary of the board 
of education the name and address of the district representative so chosen. The 
district representatives shall meet at four o'clock in the afternoon on the third 
Thursday of May at the hall of the board of education and choose by ballot one 
of their number to serve on the board of retirement for three years from the ist 
day of the following June. At the first meeting of the district representatives 
after this law takes effect, they shall choose by ballot three of their number to 
serve on the board of retirement, and the three so chosen shall by lot fix and de- 
termine their terms of office as one, two, and three years respectively. Should 
a vacancy occur among the members of the board of retirement so chosen, the 
district representatives shall meet and choose by ballot one of their number to 
serve on the board of retirement for the unexpired term. On the recommenda- 
tion of the board of retirement, said board of education shall have power, by a 
two-thirds vote of all its members, to retire any member of the teaching or super- 
vising staff of the public day schools of the city of New York, or of schools or 
classes maintained in institutions controlled by the department of public charities 
or by the department of correction who is mentally or physically incapacitated for 
the performance of duty, and who has been engaged in the work of teaching or of 
school or college supervision, or of examination of teachers for licenses, or any 
two or more of the several kinds of work, for a period aggregating twenty 
years, fifteen of which shall have been in the public day schools in the city of New 
York, or in schools or classes maintained in institutions controlled by the depart- 
ment of public charities or by the department of correction. And the board of 
education may retire from active service any member of the said teaching or 
supervising staff who shall have attained the age of sixty-five years and shall have 



EDUCATION CODE 245 

been engaged in the work of teaching or school supervision for a period aggre- 
gating thirty years. On the recommendation of the board of retirement, the 
board of education shall have power, by a two-thirds vote of all its members, to 
retire upon his or her own application any member of the teaching or supervising 
staff of the public day schools of the city of New York, or of schools or classes 
maintained in institutions controlled by the department of public charities or by 
the department of correction who has been engaged in the work of teaching or 
of school or college supervision, or of examination of teachers for licenses, or 
any two or more of these several kinds of work, for a period aggregating thirty 
years, fifteen of which shall have been in any of the said institutions. The said 
board of education shall also have power, by a two-thirds vote of all its members, 
and after recommendations to that effect shall have been made by the board of 
trustees of the normal college stating that the member of the supervising or teach- 
ing force is mentally or physically incapacitated for the performance of duty, to 
retire any member of the teaching or supervising force of the normal college or 
of the training department of the normal college who shall have been engaged in 
said normal college or training department or elsewhere in the public school sys- 
tem of the city of New York for ten years and shall have been engaged in the 
work of teaching or of school or college supervision or of examination of teachers 
for licenses, or any two or more of said several kinds of work, during a period 
aggregating twenty years. The said board of education, upon the recommendation 
of the trustees of the normal college may also, in its discretion retire any member 
of the teaching or supervising force upon his or her own application who shall 
have been engaged in the work of teaching or school or college supervision or 
examination of teachers for Hcenses, or any two or more such occupations, for a 
period aggregating thirty years. Upon such retirement, whether voluntary or 
otherwise, the person retired shall be entitled to receive an annuity out of the 
teachers retirement fund of not less than one-half of the annual salary paid to 
such person at the period of retirement, and in case of the president or of a pro- 
fessor to such an additional sum per annum as will increase such one-half of the 
salary previously paid if not an even multiple of one thousand dollars to an even 
multiple of one thousand dollars. Any person retired under the provisions of 
this act after thirty years of service, except as hereinbefore in this section pro- 
vided in the case of the president or of a professor of the normal college, shall 
receive as an annuity one-half of the annual salary paid to said person at the date 
of said retirement, not to exceed, however, in the case of a teacher or principal, 
the sum of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, and in the case of a supervising 
official, two thousand dollars per annum. And in no case shall the annuity of any 
person already retired or hereafter to be retired after thirty years of service, be 
less than six hundred dollars. Any person retired after twenty years of service, 
but with less than thirty years of service, shall receive an annuity which bears 
the same ratio to the annuity provided for on retirement after thirty years of ser- 
vice as the total number of years of service of said person bears to thirty years. 
The annuities provided for by this act shall be payable in monthly instalments. 



246 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

All retirements made under the provisions of this act shall take effect either on 
the 1st day of February or on the ist day of September. The number of persons 
retired in any one year shall be so limited that the entire amount of the annuities 
to be paid for that year shall not be in excess of the estimated amount of the 
retirement fund applicable to the payment of annuities for that year. The words 
" teaching and supervising staff of the public day schools of the city of New 
York," as used in this section, shall include the city superintendent of schools, the 
associate city superintendents, the district superintendents, the director and 
assistant director of the division of reference and research, the members of the 
board of examiners, directors and assistant directors of special branches, the 
supervisor and assistant supervisor of lectures, all principals, vice principals, 
assistants to principals, heads of departments, and all regular and special teachers 
of the public day schools of the city of New York. Nothing in this act shall be 
construed as prohibiting the reappointment to active service, on his or her own 
application, of any person who has been retired under the provisions of this act. 
Upon the reappointment of any such person the payment of the annuity of said 
person shall be discontinued. Teachers hereafter appointed in schools or classes 
maintained in the institutions controlled by the department of public charities or 
by the department of correction, shall be appointed by the commissioner of the 
appropriate department upon the nomination of the city superintendent of schools 
and shall be licensed by the board of examiners of the department of education. 
The department of education through such representatives as it may designate 
shall maintain an effective visitation and inspection of all such schools and classes. 
{As amended by L. 1902, ch. 640; L. ipoj, ch. i//; L. 1905, ch. 661 ; L. 190J, 
ch. 16'j ; L. 19 1 4, ch. 476.) 

Acceptance by a teacher of a less sum for wages, and subsequently for pension, than 
is due her under the statute, does not act as a waiver for the balance due, even though 
she receipt for the same. Her right to the statutory compensation and pension does not 
rest upon contract. It is not necessary to recover the balance to resort to mandamus to 
compel her reinstatement. Moore v. Board of Education, 121 App. Div. 862 ; 106 N. Y. 
Supp. 983; aff'd 195 N. Y. 601. 

Persons who retired from service before the establishment of the pension system may 
by no act of the Legislature be made entitled to annuities hereunder. Such an act is 
unconstitutional as giving a gratuity or extra compensation to a public servant. Matter 
of Mahon v. Bd. of Education, 171 N. Y. 263, aff'g 68 App. Div. 154; 74 N. Y. Supp. 172. 

§ 1092a The moneys, securities and effects of the public school teachers retire- 
ment fund, and all pensions or annuities granted and payable from said fund, shall 
be and are exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution and from all 
process and proceedings to enjoin and recover the same by or on behalf of any 
creditor or person having or asserting any claims against, or debt or liability of, 
any pensioner or annuitant of said fund. {As added by L. 190 j, ch. 10/.) 

§ 1092b On the recommendation of the board of retirement, the board of edu- 
cation shall have power, in its discretion, to authorize the expenditure from the 
public school teachers retirement fund of a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred 
dollars in any one year for clerical and other expenses in connection with the 



EDUCATION CODE 247 

administration of said fund, payments therefrom to be made on vouchers pre- 
pared and audited in the same manner as payments from other funds under the 
jurisdiction of the board of education. (As added by L. iQop, ch. 303.) 

Charges against principal and teachers and others; proceedings thereon 
§ 1093 A local school board or any member thereof, the city superintendent, 
an associate city superintendent or a district superintendent, may prefer charges 
to the board of education against a principal, a branch principal a director, a head 
of department, or any other officer exercising supervising powers in the schools 
under their charge, or against a teacher in any of the schools under their charge, 
for gross misconduct, insubordination, neglect of duty or general inefficiency. 
Pending trial, the board of education may suspend said principal or teacher or 
other officer, with or without pay, and appoint a substitute in his place. In ac- 
cordance with by-laws to be passed by the board of education, a district superin- 
tendent shall have the like power to suspend a teacher in a school within his dis- 
trict, and shall forthwith report such suspension to the city superintendent, who 
shall immediately report it to the board of education. Pending action by the 
board of education, the city superintendent may appoint a substitute in the place 
of any teacher so suspended. The board of education, on receiving notice of such 
charges, shall cause a copy thereof to be served upon the person against whom 
they have been made either personally or, if personal service can not be made 
after reasonable effort, by leaving a copy thereof at his last known place of 
residence and by sending him a copy thereof through the mails addressed to 
him at his last known place of residence, returnable in not less than ten days 
from the date of such service, and in no case returnable during the months of 
July and August, and the board of education shall then immediately proceed to 
try and determine the case, either in the board or by a committee of its body, 
and shall fix the penalty or punishment, if any, to be imposed for the offense, 
and such penalty or punishment shall consist of a fine, suspension for a fixed 
time without pay, or dismissal; provided, however, that a vote of a majority of 
all the members of the board of education shall be necessary to impose the pen- 
alty of dismissal. The report of any committee holding such trial shall be sub- 
ject to final action by the board, which may reject, confirm or modify the conclu- 
sions of the committee, and the decision of the board shall be final, except as to 
matters in relation to which, under the general school laws of the State, an appeal 
may be taken to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In case the prin- 
cipal or other officer or teacher is acquitted, he shall be restored to his position 
with full pay for the period of suspension. In all trials authorized by this chap- 
ter all testimony taken shall be under oath, which the president of the board 
of education, chairman of a local school board or chairman of the committee 
conducting the trial is hereby authorized to administer, and the Supreme Court 
shall have power, upon the application of such president or chairman, to compel 
any witness who may be summoned, to appear and testify before said board of 
education, local school board or committee. (As amended by L. 1913, ch. 688.) 



248 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Annual report to State Superintendent of Public Instruction 

§ 1094 The board of education shall, between the ist day of August and 
30th day of September in each year, make and transmit to the State Superin- 
tendent of Public Instruction a report in writing for the State school year end- 
mg on the next preceding 31st day of July, which report shall be in such form 
and shall state such facts as the State Superintendent and the school laws of the 
State shall require. 

Annual report to mayor; other reports to mayor 

§ 1095 The board of education shall, between the ist day of August and the 
30th day of November in each year, make and transmit to the mayor of the 
city of New York a report in writing, for the year ending on the 31st day of 
July next preceding, stating the whole number of schools under its jurisdiction 
during the said year, ending on the 31st day of July; the number of teachers; 
the total number of pupils on register, and the average attendance at each school ; 
the number of high schools and training schools for teachers, with the number 
of teachers and the attendance of pupils at each ; the corporate schools or soci- 
eties from which reports have been made, as elsewhere prescribed in this act, 
the length of time such schools have been kept open, and the number of teachers 
and of pupils taught in each such school. The board of education shall also be- 
tween the 1st day of January and the 15th day of February in each year make 
and transmit to the mayor of the city of New York, another report bearing date 
the 31st day of December next preceding, stating the total amount of money ex- 
pended for the purposes of public education in said city during the year ending 
on said 31st day of December. The board of education shall also make in said 
reports such suggestions and recommendations relative to the public schools of 
the city of New York as it may deem proper. 

Removals by mayor after hearing for neglect or misconduct 
§ 1096 Any member of the board of education, or of a local school board, 
may be removed by the mayor of said city, upon proof either of official miscon- 
duct in office or negligence of official duties, or of conduct in any manner con- 
nected with his official duties, or otherwise, which tends to discredit his office, 
or the school system, or for mental or physical inability to perform his duties, 
but before such removal of said member he shall receive due and timely notice in 
writing of the charges and a copy thereof, and shall be entitled to a hearing on 
like notice before the mayor, and to the assistance of counsel on said hearing. 

The board of education to cause accounts and records to be made and kept 

§ 1097 The board of education shall provide the proper book or books, in 
form as required by its by-laws, and shall cause the class teachers under the di- 
rection and supervision of the principal to enter the names, ages and residences 
of the scholars attending the school, the name of the parent or guardian of each 
pupil and the days on which the scholars shall have attended respectively, and 



EDUCATION CODE 249 

the aggregate attendance of each scholar during the year, and also the day upon 
which the school shall have been visited by the city superintendent or by an asso- 
ciate city superintendent or by the direct superintendent, or by members of the 
board of education, or by members of the local school board, or by any of them, 
which entry shall be verified by such oath or affirmation of the principal as may 
be prescribed by the board of education. These books shall be preserved as the 
property of the board of education and shall at all times be open to inspection 
by members of the board of education, by members of the local school boards 
and by the city superintendent, or by any associate city superintendent, or by the 
district superintendents. 

School officers not to be interested in contracts; removal of 

§ 1098 The board of education shall have power to remove from office any 
school officer who shall have been directly or indirectly interested in the furnish- 
ing of any supplies or materials, or in the doing of any work or labor, or in 
the sale or leasing of any real estate, or in any proposal, agreement or contract 
for any of these purposes, in any case in which the price or consideration is to 
be paid, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, out of any school moneys, or 
who shall have received, from any source whatever, any commission or compensa- 
tion in connection with any of the matters aforesaid ; and any school officer who 
shall violate the preceding provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of 
a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not 
exceeding one thousand dollars or imprisonment in the city prison not exceed- 
ing one year, or both, and shall also be ineligible to any school office. The 
provisions of this section shall not apply to authors of school books used in 
any of the public schools because of any interest they may have as authors in 
such books. 

Contributions to political funds, etc., prohibited 

§ 1099 Neither the city superintendent of schools, nor any associate or district 
superintendent of schools, nor any member of the board of examiners, nor 
any member of the supervising or teaching stafif of the department of education 
of the city of New York, shall be permitted to contribute any moneys, directly 
or indirectly, to any fund intended to affect legislation increasing their emolu- 
ments. 

Powers of investigation 

§ HOG The board of education may investigate of its own motion or other- 
wise, either in the board or by a committee of its own body, any subject of 
which it has cognizance or over which it has legal control, including the conduct 
of any of its members or employees or those of any local school board ; and for 
the purpose of such investigation, such board or its president, or committee and 
its chairman, shall have and may exercise all the powers which the board of 
education has or may exercise in the case of a trial under section 1093 of this act. 
Any action or determination of a committee appointed under the provisions of 
this section shall be subject to approval or reversal by the board, which may 



250 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

also modify the determination of the committee in such a way as the board shall 
deem proper and just, and the judgment of the board thereon shall be final. 

A janitor of a public school is an employee of the board of education within the meaning 
of this section which confers upon the defendant the same powers in deahng with such 
employees as it possesses in the case of a trial of a teacher or principal under section 1093. 
The board is within its statutory powers in imposing a fine upon such janitor as a punish- 
ment for delinquency. Farrell v. Board of Education, 67 Misc. 187; 122 N. Y. Supp. 289; 
Egan V. Board of Education of New York, 70 Misc. 518. 

Judgment by the board is final and can not be attacked collaterally in an action to 
recover the amount of a fine withheld from an employee's salary. The plaintiff's sole 
remedy is by certiorari to review the proceedings of the board. Egan v. Board of 
Education of New York, 70 Misc. 518. 

Determination by committee. Where in the trial of a janitor for violation of a rule 
of the board, the board of education avails itself of the provision allowing it to act by 
committee, it merely intends to distribute the work and to avoid the consideration of 
charges for trifling offenses. It reserves charges for more serious infractions for itself. 
This does not mean that the board does or can divest itself of the power conferred by 
statute. Egan v. Board of Education of New York, 70 Misc. 518. 

Continuation in office of all employees under the public school system 

§ iioi Except as herein otherwise provided, the city superintendent, the 
members of the board of examiners, the supervisors, the directors, and all 
principals, teachers and other members of the educational stafif in the public 
school system of any part of the city of New York, and all school officers or 
other employees appointed by the board of education before this act takes efTect. 
including the secretary of the board, the city superintendent of schools, the 
superintendent of school buildings, the superintendent of school supplies, the 
auditors, and all deputies, clerks and other employees in their respective offices 
shall continue to hold their respective positions and to be entitled to such 
compensation as is now provided or may hereafter be provided by the lawful 
authority subject to change of title, to reassignment or to removal for cause, 
as may be provided by law, and subject to the right of the said board to abolish 
unnecessary positions. The secretaries, clerical force and employees of the 
several borough school boards abolished by this act, including the supervisor 
of lectures for the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, shall be assigned by 
the board of education, and the clerical force and the employees of the several 
borough superintendents and the boards of borough superintendents also abolished 
by this act shall be assigned by the board of superintendents, to positions and 
duties corresponding as nearly as may be to their respective positions and duties 
before this act takes effect without prejudice or advantage, provided, however, 
that nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal, limit, modify or 
abridge any provisions of law or civil service regulations relative to the removal 
of subordinates by public officers or heads of departments, or to afifect the 
right of adding to the duties or reducing the salary of any secretary, clerk or 
employee and abolishing unnecessary positions. All licenses to teach or certificates 
of qualifications for teaching granted by the superintendent of public instruction 
of the city of Brooklyn, or by authority of the board of education of the said 



EDUCATION CODE 25 1 

city of Brooklyn, prior to February i, 1898, or recognized by the board of 
education of the said city of Brooklyn or the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction as in force at that date in said city, shall, unless revoked for cause 
by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, be recognized by the city 
superintendent of schools and the board of examiners of the city of New York, 
as in full force, and shall entitle the holders to appointment or promotion to any 
position to which they were respectively eligible by the possession of such 
licenses or certificates. All persons heretofore transferred under the provisions 
of this chapter as originally enacted to the service of the consoHdated city who 
hold offices for definite terms, shall be deemed to have been transferred for the 
remainder of their respective terms only. 

Right of action. A duly licensed teacher under contract with the school authorities 
is not an officer, but an employee. His employment is contractual, and his proper remedy 
for wrongful removal is by action. Mandamus will not lie as of strict right, and may be 
refused in the discretion of the court, and the former denial of that remedy will not bar 
an action. Steinson v. Bd. of Education of N. Y., 165 N. Y. 431, aff'g 49 App. Div. 143. 
63 N. Y. Supp. 128. 

A claim for salary during wrongful removal is a liquidated one and plaintiff is entitled 
to interest thereon. Shaul v. Board of Education, 108 App. Div. 19; 95 N. Y. Supp. 479. 

Action for balance of salary. The proper remedy where a teacher claims to be entitled 
to more salary than he is receiving is by an action at law. A writ of mandamus to compel 
payment will not issue. People ex rel. Button v. Maxwell, 137 App. Div. TiT, 122 N. V. 
Supp. 637; Moore v. Board of Education, 121 App. Div. 862; 106 N. Y. Supp. 983. 

Reinstatement after a wrongful removal must be sought in a direct proceeding for that 
purpose; the question can not be tried in an action for salary. Thomson v. Board of 
Education, 201 N. Y. 457, aff'g 136 App. Div. 721 ; 121 N. Y. Supp. 491. 

Waiver of right of compensation. Since the right is a statutory one, and does not 
rest upon contract, by accepting and receipting for a lower salary than that to which she 
is entitled, she does not waive her right to the higher rate. Moore v. Board of Education, 
121 App. Div. 862; 106 N. Y. Supp. 983. 

In this connection read the following section of the Greater New York Charter : 

§ 149. . . Every official, employee or person who shall sign the receipt upon such 
payroll as having received the amount therein mentioned in full payment for services ren- 
dered by him for the entire time specified in such payroll, shall be deemed to have made an 
accord and satisfaction of all claims against the city for wages or salary due to such person 
from the city of New York for the period covered by such payroll, unless at the time of 
signing such payroll the person receiving such wages or salary shall write legibly thereon 
in connection with his receipt, that the amount received is received under protest, and unless 
such protest is so written upon such payroll no recovery shall be had against the city of 
New York upon any further claim for wages or salaries for the period of time covered by 
such payroll. 

A teacher who voluntarily stipulates to accept a less salary than provided by statute is 
bound by her stipulation. Brown v. Board of Education, 70 Misc. 399; 128 N. Y. Supp. 16. 

There is nothing in the policy of the law to prevent a teacher voluntarily waiving her 
right to a higher salary. Sarecky v. Board of Education, 67 Misc. 294; 124 N. Y. Supp. 
903; Du Moulin v. Board of Education, 124 N. Y. Supp. 901. 

Waiver of right to position as principal. Although under the present statute the 
principal of a school can be removed or reassigned only as provided by the statute, she 
may nevertheless waive her right to a position as principal by demanding and drawing her 
pay and receipting in full for the same after a reassignment to a lower position, especially 
where she has acquiesced in such reassignment for seven and one-half years. Her actions 



252 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

must be deemed in law 2, waiver of any right to claim a salary attaching to some other 
position. Sheehan v. Board of Education, 120 App. Div. 557 ; 104 N. Y. Supp. 1002. 

This section operates to protect permanently teachers in the tenure of their positions 
whether appointed before or after the passage of the charter, unless discharged or reduced 
to a lower position for cause. Moore v. Board of Education, 121 App. Div. 862; 106 
N. Y. Supp. 983. 

The intent of the protection afforded is to get the best work from all teachers by assuring 
them of safety and protection, without resort to outside influence, so long as they maintain 
a high standard of conduct and eflSciency. People ex rel. Callahan v. Bd. Education, 174 
N. Y. 169, aff 'g 78 App. Div. 501 ; 79 N. Y. Supp. 624. 

Prospective effect. The section applies not only to teachers appointed prior to its 
enactment but also was intended to have a prospective effect. It is unreasonable to believe 
that the Legislature intended to protect a part of the teachers only and to leave others 
of the same class unprotected, simply because they were appointed at a later period. 
Two kinds of tenure for teachers appHcable to the same position, in the same city, but 
founded upon no substantial distinction, would be an anomaly. People ex rel. Callahan 
V. Bd. Education, 174 N. Y. 169, afif'g 78 App. Div. 501 ; 79 N. Y. Supp. 624. 

The vsrord reassignment as used in this section in close connection with the word 
removal, and with no comma intervening, means something more than the simple transfer 
from one school to another without affecting the grade. It is practically a removal from 
a higher position to a lower, and can not be made except for cause. A teacher can not be 
reassigned to a lower grade at a reduced salary except after a trial upon charges. People 
ex rel. Callahan v. Bd. Education, 174 N. Y. 169, aff'g 78 App. Div. 501 ; 79 N. Y. Supp. 624. 

The right to abolish unnecessary positions being conferred upon the board, it is 
withm Its power to remove the principal of a night school on the establishment of such 
schools for males and females separately and the appointment of female principals for the 
schools for females. Matter of Cusack v. Bd. of Education, 174 N. Y. 136, rev'g 78 
App. Div. 470; 79 N. Y. Supp. 803. 

Acceptance of another position, namely, principal of an evening elementary school, 
after being illegally removed as principal of an evening high school, will not defeat plain- 
tiff's right to bring an action against such illegal removal. Matter of O'Leary v. Board 
of Education, 78 App. Div. 475; 79 N. Y. Supp. 806; aff'd 174 N. Y. 511. 

A by-law of the board of education of the borough of Brooklyn providing for the 
termination of the employment of a teacher upon her marriage is void as contravening the 
exclusive method of termination of such employment provided by this section. People 
ex rel.^ Murphy v. Maxwell, 177 N. Y. 494, rev'g 87 App. Div. 131; 83 N. Y. Supp. 1098. 

Resignation of a teacher upon her marriage was not made under duress although in 
accordance with a by-law of the board of education which has since been declared invalid 
by the courts. Voluntary obedience to such regulations, whether lawful or otherwise, can 
not be regarded as duress in a legal sense. The wait of two years after the decision of 
the Court of Appeals declaring the by-law invalid for instituting this proceeding would 
alone be grounds for denying this application for laches Matter of Grendon, 114 App. 
Div. 759; 100 N. Y. Supp. 253. 

Discrirnination between males and females. The rights of a female teacher holding a 
grade "A" license issued by the city of Brooklyn prior to 1898, are not impaired by making 
separate eligible lists for male and female teachers, nor by the appointment of a male 
teacher of a lower relative standing to a position which, in the exercise of a reasonable 
discretion, the board determined should be filled by a man. Fitzpatrick v. Board of 
Education, 67 Misc. 564; 124 N. Y. Supp. 765. 

The holder of a license issued by the former city of Brooklyn is expressly made 
entitled to the protection here afforded and is eligible to promotion without discrimination. 
Matter of Brooklyn Teachers Assn., 85 App. Div. 47; 83 N. Y. Supp. i; aff'd 176 N. Y. 564. 

A teacher employed in the city of Brooklyn for a definite term was continued in the 



EDUCATION CODE 253 

same position by the Greater New York charter not merely for the remainder of the term 
for which he was employed, but like all other teachers in the new city, for an indefinite 
term of employment, that is, until removed for cause. Bogert v. Board of Education, 
106 App. Div. 56; 94 N. Y. Supp. 180, aff'g 44 Misc. 10; 89 N. Y. Supp. 737. 

A grade "A" license of the city of Brooklyn before the consolidation does not entitle 
the holder to an appointment as head of a department in Greater New York. Hazen v. 
Board of Education, 127 App. Div. 235-; iii N. Y. Supp. 3S7- 

Teacher in village of Flushing, The provisions of this section making the positions 
of teachers permanent are not applicable to a teacher in the village of Flushing whose 
license was for a period expiring within the current year, except for a period limited by 
the expiration of his license. Wood v. Board of Education, 59 Misc. 605; 112 N. Y. 
Supp. 578. 

The salary of an architectural draughtsman in the bureau of buildings in the board 
of education may be reduced. Sauerbrunn v. Board of Education, 150 App. Div. 407; 
13s N. Y. Supp. 85. 

School money appropriation by the State to the public schools of the city 

§ 1 102 Whenever the city clerk shall receive notice from the State Super- 
intendent of Public Instruction of the amount of moneys apportioned to the 
city of New York for the support and encouragement of common schools 
therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the board of aldermen of said 
city; and the chamberlain of the said city shall apply for and receive the school 
moneys apportioned to the said city as soon as the same become payable, and 
place the same in the city treasury, to the credit of the general fund for the 
reduction of taxation. 

TITLE 2 
THE COLLEGE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

To continue a separate corporation 

Section 1127 The college of the city of New York shall continue to be a 
separate and distinct organization and body corporate, and as such shall have 
the powers and privileges of a college, pursuant to the revised statutes of this 
State, and be subject to the provisions of the said statute relative to colleges, 
and to the visitation of Regents of the University, in like manner with the other 
colleges of the State. 

Corporate existence. The College of the City of New York, although a part of the 
educational system of the city, is a domestic corporation separate and distinct from the 
city. Hence the remedy of a real estate broker under contract with the trustees for 
acquisition of a site would be not against the city but against the college. Fidelity & 
Deposit Co. v. City of New York, 108 App. Div. 263 ; 95 N. Y. Supp. 752. 

Trustees of the College of the City of New York; number, appointment 

§ 1 128 The board of trustees of said college on and after the ist day of July, 
1900, shall consist of nine residents of the city to be appointed as hereinafter 
provided, and of the president of the board of education of the city ex officio. 
Except as herein otherwise provided, the said board shall have and possess the 
powers conferred upon and be subject to the duties required of the trustees of 



254 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

colleges by the education law. The mayor of the city of New York shall appoint 
before the ist day of June, 1900, nine persons to serve as such trustees, to hold 
ofifi'ce resipectively as shall be designated by the mayor, for one, two, three, four, 
five, six, seven, eight and nine years from the ist day of July, 1900. On or before 
the 1st day of June prior to the expiration of the term of office of any trustee the 
mayor shall appoint his successor for a full term of nine years from the first day 
of July following. The mayor shall fill any vacancy existing in the office of 
trustee — other than the president of the board of education — by the appoint- 
ment of a trustee to hold office for the unexpired term. Each trustee so ap- 
pointed shall take the oath of office required by the constitution of the State. Any 
resignation from the office of trustee shall be made to the mayor. No trustee shall 
be subject to removal under the provisions of section 95 of this act, but any 
trustee may be removed by the mayor upon proof either of official misconduct or 
negligence of official duties, or of conduct in any manner connected with his 
official duties or otherwise which tends to discredit his office, or the school 
system, or for mental or physical inability to perform his duties, but before such 
removal he shall receive due and timely notice in writing of the charges and a 
copy thereof, and shall be entitled to a hearing on like notice before the mayor, 
and to the assistance of counsel on said hearing. The board of trustees shall have 
power to prescribe by-laws and regulations for the board and for the government 
of the college, its faculty, instructors and other employees, and to authorize a 
curator or a member of said board as they deem proper, to advertise for, receive 
and open any and all bids. Such by-laws shall include rules governing the ap- 
pointment of all officers, members of the faculty, instructors and other employees 
of the college. A majority of the members of the board appointed by the mayor 
, as aforesaid shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and no 
resolution or act of the board shall be invalid by reason of any vacancy existing 
in the board, provided that such act or resolution shall be adopted by a vote of 
five members of the board. The board of trustees of said college shall also have 
power to prescribe rules, regulations, charges and compensation, if any, for the 
use, and to prescribe the extent, purposes and manner of use, by persons, asso- 
ciations and corporations of the lands or buildings of said college or any part 
thereof, at such times as the same are not required for the uses of the college 
and of those attending thereat, and the board of trustees shall also have power 
to prescribe what fees or charges, if any, such persons, associations or corpora- 
tions may exact for the attendance at or participation in the uses so permitted. 
All moneys, if any, so received by said college shall, within ten days after being 
received, be duly accounted for and paid by said college to the comptroller of 
the city of New York and shall be by him credited to a special fund for the ex- 
clusive benefit and use of the athletic council and other organizations of said 
college, except as hereinafter provided, and any moneys in said fund when duly 
appropriated by the board of estimate and apportionment of the city of New 
York and thereafter by the board of trustees of said college, shall be available 
for carrying out the powers, duties and functions of said athletic council and 
other organizations of said college and for no other purpose whatsoever. 



EDUCATION CODE 355 

Provided that any balance of said moneys received by said comptroller during 
any fiscal year that may remain in said special fund unappropriated by said board 
of estimate and apportionment a year after the expiration of each such fiscal 
year shall be, by said comptroller, when so directed by said board of estimate 
and apportionment, deposited to the credit of the general fund for the reduction 
of taxation. (As amended by L. 1914, ch. up; L. IQIS, ch. 512.) 

The trustees have no right to divert funds appropriated for the college from the legiti- 
mate purposes ; hence they may not allow the widow of a deceased teacher his salary for 
a period subsequent to his death. Such a payment is properly refused audit by the city 
authorities. People ex rel. Burnet v. Jackson, 85 N. Y. 541, rev'g 23 Hun 568. 

Laws applicable 

§ 1 129 All acts of the Legislature which were in force on March 30, 1866, 
in regard to the free academy, and to its control, management, support and 
affairs, not since modified or repealed, and which are not inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act, and all laws in force at the time this act takes effect 
relative to the College of the City of New York not inconsistent with this act 
are hereby declared to be applicable to the said college. 

Participation in State literature and other funds 

§ 1 130 The College of the City of New York shall be entitled to participate 
in the distribution of the income of the literature and other funds in the same 
manner and upon the same conditions as the other colleges of the State, and" 
the Regents of The University of the State of New York shall pay annually 
to the comptroller of the city of New York, as trustees for said college, 
the distributive share of the said funds to which the said College of the City 
of New York shall, by law, be entitled, and which shall be applied and expended 
for library books for the said college. 

College officials and professors' retirement fund 

§ 1130a A retirement fund for the president, vice president, professors, assist- 
ant professors and instructors of the College of the City of New York is 
hereby created, and shall consist of one per centum annually or as much thereof 
as is necessary for the purpose of this act, of all excise moneys or license fees 
belonging to the city of New York as constituted by this act and derived or 
received in any current year by any commissioner of excise or public officer 
from the granting of licenses or permission to sell strong or spirituous liquors, 
ale, wine or beer, or of any moneys paid for taxes upon the business of trafficking 
in or selling or dealing in strong or spirituous liquors, ale, wine or beer, in the 
boroughs of Manhattan. Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Richmond under the 
provisions of any law of this State authorizing the granting of any such license 
or permission, the said one per centum or as much thereof as is necessary to be 
paid by the comptroller of said city, who is hereby authorized and required to 



256 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

pay the same to the persons entitled to the said retirement fund as hereinafter 
prescribed, such sum to amount in each and every year to not more than one 
per centum on the excise fund belonging to said city, nor to exceed such amount 
as may be required to pay the full amount of annuities allov^ed. The comptroller 
of the city of New York shall by the direction and request of said board of 
trustees of said college pay out the same. The comptroller of the city of New 
York shall report in detail to the board of trustees of said college annually in 
the month of January the amounts paid out by him in the preceding year for 
account of said retirement fund. Said board of trustees shall have power, by 
a two-thirds vote of all its members, to retire any member of the supervising 
or teaching staff of said college, who shall have attained the age of sixty-five 
years, and shall have been engaged as a supervising officer, professor, assistant 
professor or instructor in said college for ten years, and has taught in some 
university, college, academy, educational institution or in the common schools of 
this or some other state in the United States for thirty years, and in the event 
of such retirement shall be entitled to the annuity hereinafter provided and any 
president, vice president, professor, assistant professor or instructor, who shall 
have served consecutively for twenty years in said college, or who is connected 
with said college and shall have served said college for ten years and taught or 
acted as supervising officer in some university, college, academy, educational 
institution or in the common schools of this or some other state in the United 
States for thirty years, shall, on his own application, be permitted to retire from 
the active service of said college, and upon such retirement, duly approved by a 
majority vote of the board of trustees of said college, shall be entitled to receive 
an annuity out of said retirement fund of not less than one-half the annual salary 
paid to him at the date of such retirement, and in case of the president an ad- 
ditional sum of one thousand dollars, in case of a vice president an additional 
sum of five hundred dollars, and should said annuity, in the case of a professor, 
be less than three thousand dollars, then the said board may, in its discretion, 
increase said annuity to not more than three thousand dollars. The said board 
shall have power by a two-thirds vote of all its members to appoint any super- 
vising officer, professor, assistant professor or instructor who has been retired 
as hereinbefore provided, to active duty for a term of not more than one year 
in a position similar to that formerly held by him. Such supervising officer, 
professor, assistant professor or instructor so appointed to active duty shall be 
entitled to the annuity to be paid out of the retirement fund as hereinbefore 
provided and an additional sum to be paid out of funds in the hands of the 
board of trustees for the general expenses of the college, as compensation for 
his service, which additional sum shall be equal to the difference between the 
amount of the annuity received by him and the amount of his salary for the year 
immediately preceding his retirement, so that the total amount paid him shall 
equal his salary for the year immediately preceding his retirement. Any such 
appointment heretofore made by said board is hereby ratified and confirmed and 
such appointee is entitled to the annuity hereinbefore provided and an additional 
sum as above provided as compensation for his services. (As added by L. ip02, 
ch. 604 and amended by L. IQO^, ch. 438.) 



EDUCATION CODE 257 

Duties of trustees to report 
§ 1 131 It shall be the duty of the trustees of said college, annually on or 
before the ist day of September, to report to the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment such sum, not exceeding one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in 
any one year, as they may require for the payment of the salaries of the pro- 
fessors and officers of said college, for obtaining and furnishing scientific ap- 
paratus, books for the students and all other necessary suppHes therefor; for 
repairing and altering the college buildings ; and for the support, maintenance and 
general expenses of said college; and the said board of estimate and apportion- 
ment and the board of aldermen of the city of New York are hereby authorized 
and directed in each and every year to raise and collect by tax on the estate, 
real and personal, liable to taxation in said city, such sum of money, not ex- 
ceeding the amount aforesaid, as may be reported to them by said trustees ; the 
amount so to be raised and collected to be in addition to the sums required for 
the purposes of common schools in the city of New York under the act entitled 
"An act to amend, consolidate and reduce to one act the several acts of the State 
of New York relative to the common schools of the city of New York," passed 
July 3, 1 85 1, and the several acts amendatory thereto. Upon the recommendation 
of the trustees, the board of estimate and apportionment and the board of alder- 
men may increase, from time to time, the amount annually to be raised in the tax 
levy for the maintenance of the College of the City of New York. 

Instruction to be furnished gratuitously and otherwise by the College of the 
City of New York; degrees and diplomas 

§ 1 132 The trustees of said college shall continue to furnish, through the 
College of the City of New York, the benefit of education, gratuitously, to boys 
who have been pupils in the common schools of the city, and to all other male 
students who are actual residents of said city, and who are qualified to pass the 
required examination for admission to said college. And the trustees, upon 
the recommendation of the faculty of the said college may grant the usual 
degrees and diplomas in the arts to such persons as shall have completed a full 
course of study in the said college. The trustees may also, upon such terms and 
conditions as to admission and attendance as they may prescribe, furnish gratuit- 
ously or otherwise, for male and female students actual residents or employees 
of said city, special courses and courses of study in vocational subjects and civic 
administration; and may grant certificates to such students as shall have com- 
pleted the courses or studies so prescribed. All sums of money, if any, received 
by said college, as provided by this section, shall be accounted for and paid into 
the city treasury to the credit of the general fund, within sixty days after the ex- 
piration of each collegiate year. (As amended by L. 19 15, ch. 161.) 

Reports by trustees to be furnished 

§ 1 133 The trustees of the College of the City of New York shall make and 
transmit, annually, on or before the ist day of February in each year, to the 
board of aldermen and also to the secretary of the Board of Regents of The 
9 



258 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

University of the State of New York a report, dated on the 31st day of December 
next preceding, which report shall state the names and ages of all the pupils 
instructed in such college during the preceding year, and the time that each was 
so instructed, specifying which of them have completed a full course of study 
therein, and which have received degrees, medals, and other special testimonials, 
a particular statement of the studies pursued by each pupil since the last pre- 
ceding report, together with the books such student shall have studied, in whole 
or in part, and if in part, what portion; an account or estimate of the library, 
philosophical and chemical apparatus, and mathematical or other scientific in- 
struments belonging to such college; the names of the instructors employed in 
said college, and the compensation paid to each; what amoimt of money the 
board of education received during the year for the purposes of such college, 
and from what sources, specifying how much from each, and the particular 
manner, and specific purposes for which such moneys have been expended ; and 
such other information in relation to education in the said college and the measures 
of the board of trustees in the management thereof as the board of aldermen or 
the Regents of The University of the State of New York may, from time to 
time, require. 

TITLE 3 
THE NORMAL COLLEGE 

The Normal College of the City of New York, a corporation and college 

Section 1139 The Normal College of the City of New York is hereby declared 
to be a separate and distinct organization and body corporate, and as such shall 
have the power and privileges of a college pursuant to the revised statutes of this 
State, and be subject to the provisions of the said statutes relative to colleges, 
and to the visitation of the Regents of the University, in like manner with the 
other colleges of the State. Such college shall hereafter be known as Hunter 
College of the City of New York and the provisions of this charter as well as of 
all other acts and parts of acts in any manner relating to or affecting The Normal 
College of the City of New York shall apply to and continue in full force and 
effect in relation to said Hunter College of the City of New York. (As amended 
by L. 19 1 4, ch. 115.) 

Trustees, number and appointment 

§ 1 140 The board of trustees of said college on and after the ist day of July, 
191 5, shall consist of nine residents oi the city, men and women, to be appointed 
as hereinafter provided, of the president of the board of education of the city 
ex officio and of the president of said college ex officio. Except as herein other- 
wise provided, the said board shall have and possess the powers conferred upon 
and be subject to the duties required of the trustees of colleges by the Educa- 
tion Law. The mayor of the city of New York shall appoint before the ist day 
of June, 191 5, nine persons, men and women, to serve as such trustees, to hold 
office respectively as shall be designated by the mayor, for one, two, three, four, 
five, six, seven, eight and nine years from the ist day of July, 1915. On or be- 



EDUCATION CODE 259 

fore the ist day of June prior to the expiration of the term of office of any 
trustee the mayor shall appoint his successor for a full term of nine years from 
the 1st day of July following. The mayor shall fill any vacancy existing in the 
office of trustee — other than the president of the board of education and the 
president of the college — by the appointment of a trustee to hold office for the 
unexpired term. Each trustee so appointed shall take the oath of office required 
by the constitution of the State. Any resignation from the office of trustee shall 
be made to the mayor. No trustee shall be subject to removal under the pro- 
visions of section 95 of this act, but any trustee appointed by the mayor may be 
removed by the mayor upon proof either of official misconduct or negligence of 
official duties, or of conduct in any manner connected with his official duties 
or otherwise which tends to discredit his office, or the school system, or for 
mental or physical inability to perform his duties, but before such removal he 
shall receive due and timely notice in writing of the charges and a copy thereof, 
and shall be entitled to a hearing on like notice before the mayor, and to the 
assistance of counsel on said hearing. The board of trustees shall have the 
power to prescribe by-laws and regulations for the board and for the govern- 
ment of the college, its faculty, instructors, and other employees, and to au- 
thorize a curator or a member of said board as they deem proper, to advertise for, 
receive and open any and all bids. Such by-laws shall include rules governing 
the appointments of all officers, members of the faculty, instructors and other 
employees of the college. A majority of the members of the board appointed by 
the mayor as aforesaid shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business 
and no resolution or act of the board shall be invalid by reason of any vacancy 
existing in the board, provided that such act or resolution shall be adopted by a 
vote of five members of the board. (As amended by L. ipij, ch. 5^6.) 

Law^s applicable to; participation in State literature and other funds 

§ 1 141 All acts of the Legislature now in force with regard to the said normal 
college, its control, management, support and affairs, not inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act, are hereby declared to be applicable to said college. The 
Normal College of the City of New York shall be entitled to participate in the 
distribution of the income of the literature, and other funds of the State in the 
same manner, and upon the same conditions as the other colleges of the State, 
and the Regents of The University of the State of New York shall pay annually 
to the comptroller of the city of New York, as trustee for said college, the dis- 
tributive share of the said funds to which the said Normal College of the City 
of New York shall by law be entitled, and which shall be applied and expended 
for library books for said college. 

Trustees to report annually the amount required to pay salaries, etc.; such 
amount to be raised by taxation; board of aldermen may increase amount 
named herein 

§ 1 142 It shall be the duty of the trustees of said college annually, on or 
before the 15th day of October, to report to the board of estimate and apportion- 



260 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

ment such sum, not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars in any one 
year, as they may require for the payment of salaries of the professors and officers 
of the said college, for obtaining and furnishing scientific apparatus, books for 
the students and all other necessary supplies therefor, for repairing and altering 
the college buildings, and for the support, maintenance and general expenses of 
said college; and the said board of estimate and apportionment, and the board 
of aldermen of the city of New York are hereby authorized and directed, in each 
and every year to raise and collect by tax on the estate, real and personal, liable 
to taxation in said city such sum of money, not exceeding the amount aforesaid, 
as may be reported to them by said trustees, the amount so to be raised and 
collected to be in addition to the sums required for the purposes of com.mon 
schools in the city of New York, under the act entitled "An act to amend, con- 
solidate and reduce to one act the several acts of the State of New York relative 
to common schools of the city of New York," passed July 3, 185 1, and the 
several acts amendatory thereto. Upon the recommendation of the trustees, the 
board of estimate and apportionment and the board of aldermen may increase 
from time to time the amount annually to be raised in the tax levy for the mainte- 
nance of the normal college. 

Instruction to be furnished gratuitously; degrees and diplomas 

§ 1143 The said board of education, as trustees of said college, shall continue 
to furnish, through the Normal College of the City of New York, the benefit 
of education gratuitously to girls who have been pupils in the common schools 
of the city of New York as constituted by this act, for a period of time to be 
regulated by the board of trustees of said college, and to all other girls who are 
actual residents of said city, and who are qualified to pass the required examina- 
tion for admission to said college ; and the board of trustees, upon the recom- 
mendation of the faculty of the said college, may grant the usual degrees and 
diplomas in the arts to such persons as shall have completed a full course of 
study in the said college. The said board of trustees shall give normal instruction 
in manual training for the purpose of preparing teachers of manual training for 
,the common schools. 

Annual reports of trustees 

§ 1 144 The trustees of the Normal College of the City of New York shall 
make and transmit annually, on or before the ist day of February in each year, 
to the board of aldermen and also to the secretary of the Board of Regents of 
the University of the State of New York, a report, dated on the last secular day 
'of December next preceding, which report shall state the names and ages of all 
■the pupils instructed in said college during the preceding year, and the time that 
(each was so instructed, specifying which of them have completed a full course 
of study therein, and which have received degrees, medals and other special 
testimonials ; a particular statement of the studies pursued by each pupil since 
the last preceding report, together with the books such student shall have studied, 
in whole or in part, and if in part, what portions; an account or estimate of the 



EDUCATION CODE 26 T 

library, philosophical and chemical apparatus and mathematical or other scientific 
instruments belonging to said college ; the names of the instructors employed in 
said college and the compensation paid to each ; what amount of moneys the 
board of trustees received during the year for the purposes of said college, and 
from what source, specifying how much from each, and the particular manner 
and specific purposes for which such moneys have been expended, and such 
other information in relation to education in the said college, and the measures 
of the board of trustees in the management thereof, as the board of education 
or the Regents of the University of the State of New York may from time to 
time require. 

Money appropriated for, to be expended when required by trustees ; contracts 

by trustees 

§ 1 145 The moneys apportioned to the board of education of said city of 
New York by the board of estimate and apportionment and board of aldermen, 
for the payment of the salaries of the professors and officers of said college, for 
obtaining and furnishing scientific apparatus, books for the students and all other 
necessary supplies therefor, for repairing and altering the college buildings, and 
for the support, maintenance and general expenses of said college, shall be ex- 
pended for said normal college when required by the trustees of the Normal 
College of the City of New York, with the same right, power and authority as 
if the said college were under the control of the board of education of the city 
of New York. All contracts entered into or liabilities incurred by said trustees 
involving the expenditure of more than one thousand dollars, except agreements 
for the payment of salaries, shall be entered into and incurred in the same manner 
and subject to the restrictions and limitations provided as to other expenditures 
of public moneys as provided for in this act. 

TITLE 4 
GENERAL PROVISIONS 

Religious sects and dogmatic books excluded; Bible retained 

§ 115 1 No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion of the school 
moneys in which the religious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or 
other religious sect shall be taught, inculcated or practised, or in which any book 
or books, containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the particular doc- 
trines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be used, 
or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of any other religious sect, or which 
shall refuse to permit the visits and examinations provided for in this chapter. 
But nothing herein contained shall authorize the board of education or the school 
board of any borough to exclude the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, 
or any selections therefrom, from any of the schools provided for by this chapter; 
but it shall not be competent for the said board of education to decide what 
version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, shall be used 
in any of the schools ; provided that nothing herein contained shall be so con- 



262 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

strued as to violate the rights of conscience, as secured by the constitution of this 
State and of the United States. 

Certain private schools authorized to participate in common school fund 

§ II 52 The school established and maintained by the Five Points House of 
Industry, in the city of New York, the school established and maintained by the 
Ladies' Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the 
institution in Park street, near the place usually called the five points, in the 
said city, and the industrial schools established and maintained under the charge 
of the Children's Aid Society in the city of New York shall participate through 
the board of education in the distribution of the common school fund in the 
same manner and degree as the common schools in the city of New York, and 
shall be subject to the same regulations and restrictions as are now by law im- 
posed on the common schools of New York. (As amended by L. 1901, ch. /'14.) 

To report as to moneys and attendance 

§ 1 153 The board of education shall require from the officers conducting 
schools by appointment of the board, and from the trustees, managers or directors 
of the corporate schools entitled to participate in the apportionment of school 
moneys, a report in all respects similar to that formerly required in the city of 
New York as constituted prior to the passage of this act from the trustees of 
each ward. And in making the apportionment among the several schools, no 
share shall be allotted by the board to any school or society from which no 
sufficient annual report shall have been received, for the year ending on the 
last day of June immediately preceding the apportionment. 

Certain additional private schools authorized to participate in school funds 

§ 1 1 54 The New York Orphan Asylum School, the Roman Catholic Orphan 
Asylum School, the schools of the two half-orphan asylums, the school of the 
Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, in the city of New York, 
the school for the Leake and Watts' Orphans' House, the school connected with 
the almshouse of said city, the school of the Association for the Benefit of Colored 
Orphans, the schools of the American Female Guardian Society, the school estab- 
lished and maintained by the New York Juvenile Asylum, by the New York 
Infant Asylum, by the Nursery and Child's Hospital, including the country 
branch thereof ; the orphan asylums and industrial schools as existing in the 
city of Brooklyn at the time of the passage of this act, and the several schools 
and branches thereof, the schools organized under the act entitled "An act to 
extend to the city and county of New York the provisions of the general act in 
relation to the common schools, passed April 11, 1842," or an act to amend the 
same, passed April 18, 1843, or a" act entitled "An act more effectually to provide 
for common school education in the city and county of New York, passed May 7, 
1844," or any of the acts amending the same, and such schools as may be organ- 
ized under the provisions of this chapter shall be subject to the general supervision 
of the board of education, and shall be entitled, through the said board, to 



EDUCATION CODE 263 

participate in the apportionment of the school moneys, as provided for in this 
chapter, but they shall be under the immediate direction of their respective 
trustees, managers and directors, as herein provided. 

Accidental omission to report 

§ 1 155 Whenever an apportionment of the public money shall not be made 
to any school, in consequence of any accidental omission to make any report 
required by law, or to comply with any other regulation or provision of law, 
the board of education may, in its discretion, direct an apportionment to be made 
to such school, according to the equitable circumstances of the case, to be paid 
out of the public money on hand, or, if the same shall have been distributed, out 
of the public money to be received in a succeeding year. 

Trustees of such schools may convey to corporation and become merged 

§ 1 156 The trustees, managers and directors of any of the corporate schools 
entitled to participate in the apportionment of the school moneys may, at any 
time, convey their schoolhouses and sites to the corporation of the city of New 
York, and transfer any of their schools to the board of education, on the terms 
and in the manner to be agreed upon and prescribed by the board of education, 
so as either to merge the said schools in the public schools or adopt them as 
public schools; and the same shall then be public schools, subject to all the rules, 
duties and liabilities, and enjoy the same rights as if they had been originally 
established as public schools. 

Nautical school may be established and maintained 

§ 1 1 57 The board of education may in its discretion provide and maintain a 
nautical school in said city, for the education and training of pupils in the sci- 
ence and practice of navigation; to furnish accommodations for said school, and 
make all needful rules and regulations therefor, and for the number and com- 
pensation of instructors and others employed therein; to prescribe the govern- 
ment and discipline thereof, and the terms and conditions upon which pupils 
shall be received and instructed therein, and discharged therefrom, and provide 
in all things for the good management of said nautical school. And said board 
shall have power to purchase the books, apparatus, stationery, and other things 
necessary or expedient to enable said school to be properly and successfully con- 
ducted, and may cause the said school or the pupils, or part of the pupils, thereof 
to go on board vessels in the harbor of New York, and take cruises in or from 
said harbor for the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge in navigation and 
of the duties of mariners. And the said board are hereby authorized to apply to 
the United States Government for the requisite use of vessels and suppHes for 
tTTe purpose above mentioned. {As amended by L. 1913, ch. 321.) 

Nautical school ; management of 

§ 1 158 The said board of education shall appoint annually at least three of 
iheir number who shall, subject to the control, supervision and approbation of the 



264 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

board, constitute an executive committee, for the care, government, and manage- 
ment of such nautical school, under rules and regulations so prescribed, and 
whose duty it shall be, among other things, to recommend the rules and regula- 
tions which they deem necessary and proper for such school. 

Chamber of commerce to appoint committee to serve as council 

§ II 59 The chamber of commerce of New York is authorized to provide for 
and appoint a committee of its members to serve as a council of the nautical 
school, whose duty it shall be as far as may be to advise and cooperate with the 
board of education in the establishment and management of such school, and 
from time to time to visit and examine the same, and to communicate in respect 
thereof, with the board of education, or such executive committee thereof, and to 
make reports to the chamber of commerce which may transmit to the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction such reports, or any thereof, or an abstract 
of the same, with such recommendations as may be deemed advisable. 

Expenses 

§ 1160 After the establishment and organization of the said school, the ex- 
penses thereof, and of carrying out the provisions of this chapter, shall be de- 
frayed from the moneys raised by law for the support of common schools in the 
city of New York. 

New York Institution for the Blind 

§ 1 161 The board of education is hereby authorized and required to distribute 
to the managers of the New York Institution for the Blind a ratable proportion of 
the said school fund to every blind pupil in said institution, without regard to 
age. 

Anniversary day is a holiday in the public schools of the borough of 

Brooklyn 

§ 1162 The 8th day of June in the year 1905 and thereafter the first Thursday 
in June in each year, except in those years when the first Thursday in June oc- 
curs in the same week with Memorial day, and in such years the second Thursday 
in June, known as anniversary day, and celebrated in commemoration of the 
organization of Sundays^ schools, is hereby made and declared to be a holiday 
in all the public schools in the borough of Brooklyn, city of New York, and the 
board of education of such city is hereby authorized and directed to cause all 
the public schools in such borough to be closed on such day. (As added by 
L. 1905, ch. 528.) 

Money not to be paid to sectarian schools; public property; 
how disposed of 

§ 1552 No money belonging to the city raised by taxation upon the property 
of the citizens thereof, shall be appropriated in aid of any religious or denomina- 
tional school, neither shall any property, real or personal belonging to said city, 

' So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 265 

be disposed of to any such school, except upon the sale thereof at public auction, 
after the same has been duly advertised, at which sale such school shall be the high- 
est bidder, and upon payment of the sum so bid into the city treasury; neither 
shall any property belonging to the city be leased to any school under the control 
of any religious or denominational institution, except upon such terms as the city 
property may be leased to private parties after the same has been duly advertised. 

JAMAICA NORMAL SCHOOL 
Chapter 524, Laws of 1905 

An act to transfer to the city of New York the normal and training school in 

the borough of Queens, city of New York, formerly in the village of Jamaica 

and county of Queens 

Section i The normal and training school heretofore established in the former 
village of Jamaica, in the county of Queens, pursuant to the provisions of chapter 
553 of the Laws of 1893, entitled "An act to establish a normal and training 
school in the village of Jamaica and county of Queens," including all the lands, 
buildings and appurtenances thereunto belonging, shall be transferred and con- 
veyed to the city of New York, for the use of the said city as a training school 
and pubhc school on the ist day of January, 1906, upon terms to be fixed and 
agreed upon by a commission consisting of the mayor, comptroller and president 
of the board of education of the city of New York and the Commissioner of 
Education and the Comptroller of the State of New York. 

§ 2 Upon the transfer of the said school under the terms fixed by the said 
commission, the conduct, management and support thereof shall be regulated by 
chapter 378 of the Laws of 1897, as amended by chapter 466 of the Laws of 
1901, known as the Greater New York charter, and the board of education shall 
have and exercise the same rights and powers in respect to said school as said 
board possesses in respect to other public schools in the city of New York. 

§ 3 The principals, teachers, janitors and other employees of the said school 
shall be transferred from the service of the State to the service of the city in 
the respective positions to which they have been appointed, and shall be entitled 
to such compensation as is now provided or may hereafter be provided for snnilar 
positions in the schools of the city of New York by the lawful authority, subject 
to change of title and to transfer, reassignment or removal for cause, as may be 
provided by law; and all such principals, teachers, janitors and other employees 
shall be eligible for reappointment, subject, however, to the right of the board of 
education of the city of New York to abolish unnecessary positions, and subject 
also to their complying, in the case of teachers, with the provisions of the board 
of education of the city of New York with regard to renewal and permanence of 
license, and, in the case of janitors, with the provisions of the law relating to the 
civil service, that are applicable to the city of New York. 

§ 4 Provision for the maintenance of said school and the payment of salaries 
shall be made by the board of estimate and apportionment in the budget for 
1906. 



266 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 5 All acts or portions of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are 
hereby repealed. 

Chapter 669, Laws of 1911, relates to retirement of officers, clerks and em- 
ployees in New York City. 

Chapter 230, Laws of 1874, relates to the Hebrew Orphan Society. 

Chapter 835, Laws of 1872, relates to the Society for the Relief of the Rup- 
tured and Crippled. 

Chapter 598, Laws of 1880, relates to " The Association for Befriending Child- 
ren and Young Girls," and in relation to said association, and to provide for the 
support of the persons cared for by such association. 

Chapter 285, Laws of 1891, as amended by L. 1894, ch. 103; L. 1896, ch, 717; 
L. 1914, ch. 473, relates to New York Botanical Gardens. 

Chapter 322, Laws of 1913, relates to the establishment of a State Nautical 
School. Under this law the Nautical School was transferred from the city to the 
State. 

Chapter 222, Laws of 1914, relates to the establishment of a College of Com- 
merce and Administration and a Museum of Commerce and Civics. 

Chapter 480, Laws of 1914, excepts the city of New York from the provisions 
of section 650 of the Education Law, which provides for the establishment of 
permanent census boards in cities of the first class. 

Chapter 296, Laws of 1894 

An act to amend an act, entitled "An act to consolidate into one act and to declare 

the special and local laws affecting public interests in the city of New York," 

relative to a public school teachers retirement fund 

Section i Section 1028 of chapter 410 of the Laws of 1882, entitled "An act 
to consolidate into one act and to declare the special and local laws affecting 
public interests in the city of New York," is hereby amended by adding thereto 
the following subdivision, to be known as subdivision 7 of said section : 

7 The board of education of the city of New York is hereby given the general 
care and management of the public school teachers retirement fund created by 
this act. The comptroller of the city of New York shall hold all money belonging 
to said fund, and by the direction of said board of education shall invest and pay 
out the same. The board of education shall have charge of and administer said 
public school teachers retirement fund as it shall deem most beneficial to said 
fund, and is empowered to make all necessary contracts and take all necessary 
and proper action and proceedings in the premises, and to make payments from 
said fund of annuities granted in pursuance of this act; and shall, from time to 
time, establish such rules and regulations for the administration of said fund as 
it may deem best. And the comptroller of the city of New York shall report in 
detail to the board of aldermen of the city of New York, annually, in the month 
of January, the condition of said fund, and the items of the receipts and dis- 
bursements on account of the same. The public school teachers retirement fund 
herein provided for shall consist of the following, with the interest and income 



EDUCATION CODE 267 

thereof: (i) All money, pay, compensation or salary, or any part thereof, for- 
feited, deducted or withheld from any teacher or teachers for and on account of 
absence from duty for any cause. The clerk of the board of education shall 
certify monthly to the comptroller the amounts so deducted from the salaries of 
teachers during the preceding month. (2) All moneys received from donations, 
legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise, for and on account of said fund. (3) All 
such other methods of increment as may be duly and legally devised for the in- 
crease of said fund. On and after the passage of this act the board of education 
shall, by amending its by-laws relating to the excuse of absence of teachers with 
pay, so provide that the aggregate of the several sums deducted or forfeited on 
account of absence from duty shall be fully adequate to meet the demands made 
upon the public school teachers retirement fund for the pa3mient of annuities as 
herein provided. Said board of education shall have power, by a two-thirds vote 
of all its members, and after a recommendation to that effect shall have been 
made by the city superintendent of schools, stating that the teacher is mentally or 
physically incapacitated for the performance of duty, to retire any female teacher 
of the grammar and primary schools, including special teachers in the same, who 
shall have taught therein during a period aggregating thirty years, and to retire 
any male teacher of said schools who shall have taught therein during a period 
aggregating thirty-five years. And any teacher who during his term of service in 
said schools enlisted in the army or navy of the United States during the Civil 
War and was honorably discharged, shall have the time so served included in his 
term of service in the public schools. Any teacher so retired shall thereafter be 
entitled to receive as an annuity one-half the annual salary paid to said teacher 
at the date of said retirement, not to exceed, however, in any case, the sum of 
one thousand dollars per annum. The board of education is hereby given the 
power to use both the principal and the income on said fund and to manage, ac- 
cumulate and otherwise control the same as said board shall provide by its by- 
laws, and to pay the annuities hereinbefore mentioned, and shall have power, 
from time to time, to reduce the amount of annuities of all beneficiaries of said 
fund, provided only that such reduction shall be at the same rate per centum. 
(As amended by L. i8pj, ch. 8/4.) 

Chapter 656, Laws of 1895 

An act to amend chapter 583, title 17, Laws of 1888, entitled "An act to revise 

and combine into a single act all existing special and local laws affecting pubHc 

interests in the city of Brooklyn " 

Section i Title 17, chapter 583 of the Laws of 1888, entitled ''An act to 
revise and combine into a single act all existing special and local acts affecting 
public interests in the city of Brooklyn," is hereby amended by adding thereto the 
following section, to be known as section 15, as follows: 

§ 15 The board of education of the city of Brooklyn is hereby given the full 
care and management of the public school teachers retirement fund created by 
this act. The board of education shall have charge of and administer said public 



2-68 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

school teachers retirement fund as it shall deem most beneficial to said fund, and 
shall make payments from said fund of allowances granted in pursuance of this 
act ; and shall, from time to time, establish such rules and regulations for the 
application and administration of the said fund as it may deem best. The public 
school teachers retirement fund herein provided shall consist of the following, 
with the income and interest thereof : 

1 The board of education shall on and after January i, 1896, reserve monthly, 
and turn over to said fund, one per centum of the salaries paid each month to the 
teachers who shall, prior to that date, elect to come under the provisions of this 
act ; and the board of education shall also reserve monthly and turn into said fund 
one per centum of the salaries paid each month to all teachers appointed after 
January i, 1896. 

2 All moneys and property received by donation, legacy, gift, bequest or other- 
wise for and on account of said fund. 

3 All such other methods of increment as may be duly and legally devised for 
the increase of said fund. The board of education may retire from active service 
any male teacher not under sixty years of age, or any female teacher not under 
fifty-five years of age in its employ who has elected to come under the provisions 
of this act, or who shall be appointed on and after January i, 1896, and who has 
taught not less than thirty years, of which twenty immediately preceding the 
proposed retirement shall have been in the public schools of Brooklyn. Each and 
every teacher retired under the foregoing clause shall receive during life an allow- 
ance annually equal to one-half of the annual salary received by said teacher at 
the time of said retirement, to be paid in quarterly instalments ; but no teacher so 
retired shall receive more than twelve hundred dollars in any one year; pro- 
vided, however, that no teacher shall be retired until he or she shall have paid 
into the retirement fund an amount equal to twenty per centum of his or her 
annual salary at time of retirement. Whenever the amount in the retirement 
fund herein provided shall not be sufficient in any year to pay in full the allow- 
ances hereinbefore specified payment shall be made in due proportion to the 
amount in the retirement fund applicable to that purpose. 



NEWBURGH 

Chapter 203, Laws of 1907 

An act to revise and amend the charter of the city of Newburgh, being chapter 
541 of the Laws of 1865, and the several acts amendatory thereof and sup- 
plemental thereto 

TITLE XII 

Section 4 The board of education of the village of Newburgh shall hereafter 
be known by the corporate name of '' the board of education of the city of New- 
burgh," and shall continue to exercise all the powers and discharge all the duties, 
as set forth and conferred in and by the act entitled "An act to provide for the 
establishment of free schools in the village of Newburgh," passed April 6, 1852, 
or by any acts amendatory thereof, and all provisions of said act and acts amenda- 
tory thereof, shall continue in force and apply to said board, except as herein 
otherwise provided. The present members of said board shall continue to be 
members thereof, until their respective terms of office shall expire. The suc- 
cesssors to the trustees now in office shall be elected at the general election, in each 
year as their respective terms expire, in the same manner as is now by law pre- 
scribed for their election, or as may hereafter be prescribed by act of the Legis- 
lature, and shall hold office until four years, from the ist day of January next 
succeeding their election, as hereinbefore provided, and thereafter the person^ 
elected to such office shall hold the same for four years from the ist day of Jan- 
uary next succeeding the date of their election. All the powers conferred in 
and by said act or acts amendatory thereof, upon the trustees of the village of 
Newburgh, shall hereafter be exercised by the city council of the city of New- 
burgh. It shall be the duty of the city council to raise by tax upon the real 
and personal property of said city, which shall be liable for ordinary city taxes, 
such moneys as the said board of education shall deem necessary for the pur- 
poses named in the ninth section of the said act, or any acts amendatory thereof, 
and such moneys when raised, shall be paid to the treasurer of said city, who 
shall be accountable therefor, and "disburse the same, as provided in the tenth 
section of said act. The city council of the city of Newburgh is hereby author- 
ized and directed, to provide by resolution, prior to the ist day of October, 
1907, for the issuing and sale of bonds of said city to the amount of eighty 
thousand dollars, such bonds to be in the denomination of one thousand dollars 
each and to draw interest at not to exceed five per centum per annum, and to 
be sold at not less than par; said bonds shall be known as " school bonds," and 
shall be signed by the mayor and city treasurer on behalf of the city and shall 
have the corporate seal of the city attached thereto; the proceeds of such bonds 
shall be placed to the credit of the board of education of said city ; and shall 

1 So in original. [269] 



270 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

be at once applied to the liquidation of such indebtedness as shall have been 
incurred by said board of education in borrowing money to meet the necessary 
disbursements of said board. The resolution of said city council shall provide 
for one-twentieth of said bonds maturing in each year, and the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment shall provide for the payment of interest on such bonds 
and the retiring of such bonds as they mature. 

§ 5 The said act is hereby amended by striking out the words the " trustees 
of said village " wherever they occur in said act, and inserting in place thereof, 
the words the " city council of the city of Newburgh," and by striking out the 
words "treasurer of said village," wherever they occur in said act, and insert- 
ing in place thereof the words " treasurer of said city," and by striking out the 
word " village " wherever it occurs in said act, and by inserting in place thereof 
the word "city." 

TITLE V 

Of the assessment and collection of taxes for city purposes 

Section i . . . The estimate so made and submitted by the board of educa- 
tion shall include the amount required for the following purposes : To purchase, 
lease or improve sites for schoolhouses or for other buildings necessary for 
the school or library system of the city; to build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, 
improve and repair schoolhouses and their outhouses and appurtenances or other 
buildings necessary for the school or library system of the city; to purchase, ex- 
change, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; to 
procure fuel and pay the contingent expenses of the free schools ; the expenses of 
the free library, and the annual salary of the clerk and his assistants ; and to pay 
the salaries of the librarian and assistant librarians of the " Newburgh free 
library;" of the janitors and other employes, and to pay the wages of teachers, 
due after the application of the public school moneys, and all other moneys re- 
ceived by said board, or under their control, and which may by law be appro- 
priated and provided for that purpose. The power of the board of estimate and 
apportionment to reduce the annual estimate of the board of education shall not 
be exercised unless said estimate, exclusive of public school moneys due and pay- 
able from the State, and exclusive of the cost of building sites, new school build- 
ings or additions to public school buildings heretofore erected, exceeds in amount 
one per centum of the assessed valuation of all taxable property within said city 
of Newburgh, but said estimate shall not be reduced by said board of estimate and 
apportionment to an amount less than one per centum of the assessed valuation of 
all the taxable property within said city. Whenever said board of education shall 
decide to purchase land and erect thereon a new school building or buildings or 
other building or buildings necessary for the school or library system of said 
city, or the building of additions to school building or buildings or other 
buildings necessary for the school or library system of said city, the 
sum or sums necessary therefor shall be provided by the issuing of bonds 
of the city of Newburgh, which said bonds shall bear interest at a rate not ex- 
ceeding five per centum per annum, and shall be payable within twenty years from 
the issuing thereof, but such issue shall not be in excess of the sum of forty thou- 



EDUCATION CODE 2/1 

sand dollars in any one year, without the consent of the city council, and the board 
of estimate and apportionment, which consent shall be subject to the approval of 
the mayor of the city of Newburgh. . . . 

Article 2, section i, provides for the election of nine members of the board of 
education. 

Chapter 88, Laws of 1865 amending chapter 156, Lav^s of 1852 

Section i Every district or common school located in the village of New- 
burgh, including the Newburgh High School, and every school which may here- 
after be located in said village under this act, shall be free to all children be- 
tween the ages of 5 and 21 years, residing in that village. 

§ 2 All that part of the town of Newburgh, included within the bounds of 
the corporation of the village of Newburgh, shall hereafter constitute one com- 
mon school district. John J. Monell, John Forsyth, Chas. Eastabrook, Geo. M. 
Clapp, Hugh McCutcheon, John Corwin, Egbert Alsdorf and Thos. Kimball 
are hereby appointed trustees of comm.on schools in said village. The trus- 
tees herein appointed, and their successors in office, shall constitute a board, to 
be styled the board of education of the village of Newburgh, which shall be a 
corporate body in relation to all the powers conferred and duties enjpined on 
them by this act. The term of office of the several members of said board 
named in this act shall be determined by lot, at the first meeting after their 
appointment, in this manner: The term of office of two of said trustees shall 
expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election in said village, in 
the year of our Lord 1866; the term of two others shall expire on the second 
Wednesday after the charter election in said village in the year 1867 ; the term 
of two others shall expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election 
in said village, in the year 1868; and the term of the two remaining trustees 
shall expire on the second Wednesday after the charter election in said village, 
in the year 1869. The trustees named in this act shall take and subscribe the 
constitutional oath and file the same with the clerk of said village before enter- 
ing on the duties of their office. 

§ 3 After the passage of this act, the board of education of the city of 
Newburgh shall consist of nine trustees. There shall be elected at the annual 
charter election of the city of Newburgh, on the first Tuesday succeeding the 
first Monday of November, 1896, three trustees of common schools, viz: Two 
trustees to supply the places of those whose terms of office shall expire on the 
first Monday of March, 1897, and one additional trustee of common schools 
'whose term of office shall commence on the first Tuesday of March, 1897, and 
shall expire on the Monday preceding the first Tuesday of March, 1900, and 
thereafter, in addition to the eight trustees of common schools to be elected in 
said city, as heretofore provided by law, there shall be elected one additional 
trustee, whose term of office shall continue for four years. All of such trus- 
tees shall be elected at the annual elections held in and for the city of New- 
burgh, in the same manner, and upon the same ticket with other officers of said 



2/2 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

city, and the term of office of all trustees of common schools, elected as hereto- 
fore and herein provided, shall commence on the first Tuesday of March, after 
the annual charter election, and shall continue for the term of four years. The 
mayor of the city of Newburgh, within five days after this act shall become a 
law, shall appoint from the electors of said city, an additional trustee of com- 
mon schools, who shall hold office until the first Tuesday of March, 1897, when 
the additional trustee, elected at the first annual charter election of the city of 
Newburgh, after the passage of this act, shall enter upon the discharge of his 
duties, and continue to discharge the same until the first Tuesday in March, 
1900, as hereinbefore provided. (As amended by L. 18/s, ch. 2/; L. iSgs, ch. 
8ji; L. 1806, ch. 416.) 

§ 4 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and 
appurtenances, and all other school property in said village in this act mentioned, 
shall be vested in the board of education, and the same shall not be subject to 
taxation or assessment for any purpose; and the said board of education, in 
its corporate capacity, may take, hold and dispose of any real or personal es- 
tate transferred to.it by gift, grant, bequest or devise for the use of the common 
schools or of the free library in said village, except that no real estate held 
by said board for school purposes shall be sold or disposed of without the con- 
sent of the trustees of the village first obtained, as hereinafter provided. 

§ 5 It shall be the duty of the clerk of said village, immediately after the 
election of any person as trustee of common schools, personally or in writing 
to notify him of his election; and if any such person shall not, within ten days , 
after receiving such notice of his election, take and subscribe the constitutional 
oath and file the same with the clerk of said village, the trustees of said village 
may consider it a refusal to serve, and the person so refusing shall forfeit and 
pay to the village treasurer, for the benefit of the tuition fund, a penalty of ten 
dollars. 

§ 6 The board of education shall have power, at any regular meeting, to fill 
any vacancies that may occur in the number of trustees from any other cause 
than the expiration of their term of service. The person or persons so chosen 
must, within ten days after being notified by the clerk of said board of their 
election, take and subscribe the constitutional oath and file the same with the 
clerk of said village. 

§ 7 Removal from the village, or failure to attend three consecutive regular 
meetings of the board, may be deemed a resignation of the office of trustee of 
common schools under this act, and the vacancy may be filled as hereinbefore 
provided. Any trustee of common schools in said village, elected under this act, 
may be removed from office by the trustees of said village for official miscon- 
duct; but a written copy of the charges against such trustee shall be served 
upon him, and he shall be allowed to refute such charges of misconduct before 
removed. 

§ 8 The annual meeting of the board of education shall be held on the second 
Wednesday of March, in each year, when they shall elect a president and vice 



EDUCATION CODE 273 

president, who shall be of their number, and a clerk, who may be of their num- 
ber. The president shall perform such duties as are specified in this act, or 
as may be enjoined upon him by the by-laws of the board; and in his absence 
the vice president shall perform his duties. The clerk shall keep a record of 
the proceedings of the board, a book of accounts with the treasurer of the city, 
and vnth the teachers or other persons employed by the board, and shall per- 
form such other duties as may be specified by this act, or by the by-laws 
and instructions of the board. (As amended by L. i8p§, ch. 8^i.) 

§ 9 A majority of the board shall form a quorum, and be competent to trans- 
act any business of said board. The members of the board shall not receive 
compensation for their services as trustees. The board shall have power to 
fix, from time to time, the compensation of the clerk, and of his necessary 
assistants. The records of the proceedings of the board, or a transcript thereof, 
certified by the president (or in his absence by the vice president), shall be re- 
ceived in all courts as prima facie evidence of facts therein set forth, and such 
records, and all the books, vouchers, accounts, and papers of said board, shall 
at all times be subject to the inspection of the trustees of said village and of 
any committee thereof. 

§ 10 The board of education shall have a regular meeting at least once in 
each quarter. At the annual meeting the president shall appoint such standing 
committees as may be provided in the by-laws of the board. 

§ 1 1 The board of education shall have power, and it shall be its duty : 

1 To establish and organize in said village such and so many public schools and 
departments of higher grades (including an academical department), and schools 
for colored children, as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to 
alter and discontinue the same at its discretion; 

2 To hire, purchase, and prepare houses or rooms for the purpose of free 
public schools ; 

3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may 
deem advisable ; 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages, and to defray the expenses of the free library ; 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, books, 
furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the trustees of the 
village and the rules of the board of education in relation thereto are observed ; 

6 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers, and at their pleasure to 

remove them ; 

7 To provide evening schools for those whose ages or avocations are such as 
to prevent their attending the day schools established by this act ; 

8 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys from all sources ap- 
propriated and provided by law for this purpose ; 

9 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, includmg the 

wages of janitors; 

10 To expend all moneys raised by this act for building schoolhouses, pur- 



274 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

chasing sites, and other purposes for which the same may be raised, in such 
manner as they may deem proper ; 

II To have the superintendence and management of the common schools in 
said village, and f rom^ time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may 
deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government, and 
instruction; for the reception of pupils, and their transfer from one school to 
another, for their advancement from class to class, as their degree of scholar- 
ship may warrant, and generally for the promotion of their good order, pros- 
perity and public utility; and if at any time an academical department shall be 
established by said board, it shall be entitled to its distributive share of the litera- 
ture fund, in like manner and on like conditions with the academies of this 
State, and shall be subject to the visitation of the Regents of the University, 
in like manner with the other academies of this State. 

§ 12 The common council of the city of Newburgh shall have the power, and it 
shall be their duty to raise from time to time by tax, or as hereinafter provided, 
to be levied equally upon all the real and personal property in said city which 
shall be liable for the ordinary city taxes, such sum or sums of money as the 
board of education shall deem necessary for any or all of the following pur- 
poses : 

1 To purchase, lease or improve sites for schoolhouses ; 

2 To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses, 
and their outhouses and appurtenances; 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages ; 

4 To procure fuel and pay the contingent expenses of the free schools, the 
expenses of the free library, and the annual salary to the clerk and his as- 
sistants ; 

5 To pay the wages of teachers, due after the application of the public school 
moneys, and all other moneys received by said board, or under their control, 
which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose. And the 
board of education are authorized and directed, when necessary, to raise by 
loan either in anticipation of the taxes to be levied as aforesaid in this section, 
or the bonds to be issued as provided for in section 13 of this act, the moneys 
to be raised, levied and collected as aforesaid; the taxes to be levied as afore- 
said, and collected by virtue of this act, shall be collected at the same time 
and in the same manner as other city taxes. (As amended by L. i86g, ch. 122.) 

§ 13 The board of education of the city of Newburgh shall determine and 
certify to the common council of said city, on or before the ist day of October 
in each year, the sums in their opinion necessary or proper to be raised under 
the twelfth section of this act, specifying the sums required for the year, com- 
mencing on the ist day of October, for each of the purposes therein mentioned. 
And it shall be the duty of said board of education in all its expenditures and 
contracts, to have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject 
to their order during the current year, and not to exceed that amount (except 



EDUCATION CODE 275 

when in the opinion of said board of education a special emergency arises by 
reason of the destruction of any school building or buildings, or of the library 
building by fire or otherwise, then it shall be the duty of said board of educa- 
tion, in a supplemental estimate, to determine and certify to the common council 
of said city the sums necessary for the reconstruction of any such school build- 
ing or buildings or library building, which sums shall be raised by said com- 
mon council in the manner hereinafter provided) ; and all sums thus deemed 
necessary and proper shall be levied and collected in the same manner as other 
city taxes ; provided, however, that whenever the said board of education shall 
determine and certify to said common council, either annually or specially as 
aforesaid, that it will be necessary to raise a certain sum or sums of money for 
the purposes of constructing any building or buildings in this act mentioned, then 
the said common council shall proceed to raise the amount of the sum or sums 
of money thus determined and certified by said board of education, and for that 
purpose shall have the power to raise three-quarters of said sum or sums of 
money on the credit of the city of Newburgh, and the said common council, for 
that purpose, are hereby authorized and shall have the power to issue bonds 
on the credit of the city of Newburgh; but the time of the payment of any 
bonds thus issued shall not extend beyond a period of four years. And it is 
further provided that said common council shall provide for the payment of 
such bonds in four or a less number of successive years, in annual instalments, 
by levy and collection in the same manner as other city taxes. And it is also 
provided that during the period covered by the issue and payment of said bonds 
as aforesaid, the board of education shall not determine and certify to said com- 
mon council (except in cases of special emergency as aforesaid, or for additions 
to or alterations of buildings), any sum or sums of money as necessary for con- 
struction, unless by and with the consent and concurrence of said common coun- 
cil. (As amended by L. i86g, ch. 122.) 

§ 14 It shall be the duty of the trustees of the village, within fifteen days after 
receiving the certificate of the board of education, required by the thirteenth 
section of this act, of the sums necessary or proper to be raised under the 
twelfth section of this act, to certify to said board of education that the amount 
will be raised by them for the year commencing on said ist day of October, for 
the purposes mentioned in said twelfth section. 

§ 15 It shall be the duty of the board of education on or before the ist day 
of October in each year, to prepare and report to the trustees of the village a 
true and correct statement of the receipts and disbursements of moneys under 
and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the precedmg year, m 
which account shall be stated under appropriate heads : 

1 The moneys raised by the trustees of the village under the twelfth section 

of this act; j v, a- 

2 The school moneys received by the treasurer of the village, under the dis- 
tribution of the pubHc moneys of the State; 

3 The moneys received by the board under the fourth section of this act; 



2/6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

4 All other moneys received by the treasurer, subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the sources ; 

5 The manner in which said sums of money shall have been expended, specify- 
ing the amount paid under each head of expenditure ; and also in detail, so far as 
may be necessary, to give the name of each party, company or corporation to 
whom any money or moneys may have been paid, together with the nature of 
the service or object for which such money or moneys were paid. And the 
said board shall cause the same to be published (within two weeks after making 
such report) in two of the newspapers published in the city of Newburgh. (As 
amended by L. i86p, ch. 122, sec. 5.) 

§ 16 The board of education shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to 
keep and maintain, in the building on the east side of Grand street between 
First and Second streets, in the city of Newburgh, recently erected by them, 
one free library, to be known as the " Newburgh Free Library," for the use 
of the pupils in the schools under their charge and of the residents of the city. 
They shall receive all moneys which are now or may hereafter be appropriated 
to the district for library purposes by virtue of any law, and shall apply the 
same to the uses of said library. They shall have power to expend in the pur- 
chase of books, such moneys as may be received for tuition of nonresident pupils, 
together with the moneys received for penalties incurred for the loss, injury or 
destruction of books, or of their detention or other cause, or any other moneys 
that may lawfully come to their hands applicable to such purpose. They shall have 
power to direct the sale or exchange of any books of which there are duplicate 
copies in the library, or that may be regarded as of improper character, and 
apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books ; and shall keep the books of 
the library in good repair, and shall make such arrangements as shall be neces- 
sary for their preservation and circulation. They shall have power to accept 
the donation of books or other property to such library, and to receive or hold, 
for the use of the public, the books of any library that may now or hereafter be 
granted for that purpose, and to make provision for their preservation and re- 
pair. They shall have power, and it shall be their duty to appoint a librarian, 
who shall have charge of the library under their direction and control, with 
power to appoint such assistant librarians as the said board may direct, and 
subject to their approval; and the board shall annually fix the compensation 
which the said librarian and his assistants shall receive, and which sum shall be 
raised as provided by subdivision 4 of section 12 of this act. {^As amended by 
L. i8gj, ch. 216.) 

§ 17 Whenever, in the opinion of the board, it may be advisable to sell any 
of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, they shall report the same to the trustees of 
the village, and with the consent of the trustees shall sell and dispose of such 
schoolhouses, lots or sites to the best possible advantage. 

§ 18 All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all 
school moneys by law appropriated to and provided for said village, shall be 
paid to the treasurer of the village of Newburgh, who, together with the sureties 



EDUCATION CODE " 277 

upon his official bond, shall be accountable therefor, m the same manner as for 
any other moneys in said village. Such moneys shall be deposited with such 
treasurer to the credit of said board of education, and shall be drawn only in 
pursuance of a resolution of said board, by a draft drawn by the president (or 
vice president, in his absence), and countersigned by the clerk, payable to the 
order of the person or persons entitled to receive such moneys ; and said treasurer 
shall keep the funds received by him under this act separate and distinct from 
any other funds ; but nothing in this act contained shall be regarded as prohibit- 
ing the temporary loan, by the board of education, to the trustees of the village, 
of any surplus moneys which may stand to the credit of the board of education 
on the books of the treasurer, the trustees of the village replacing the same 
whenever it may be required by the said board. 

§ 10 The trustees of the said village shall have the power, and it shall be their 
duty, to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of education 
may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of the schoolhouses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, li- 
brary, and all property belonging to or connected with the schools in said village ; 
and, to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restric- 
tions and limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said village; and 
all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for 
the violation of the village ordinances are by law collected, and when collected 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the village, and be subject to the order of the 
board of education in the same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the 
provisions of this act. 

§ 20 The said board of education shall have power to allow the children of 
persons not residents within the village to attend any of the free schools of said 
village, under the care and control of said board, upon such terms as said board 
shall by resolution prescribe. 

§ 21 The said board of education shall make an annual report to the school 
commissioner of the school commissioner's district in which said village is situ- 
ated, containing the facts required to be reported by the trustees of school dis- 
tricts; and said districts shall participate in the apportionment of the public 
school moneys in the same manner and upon the same conditions as common 
school districts. 



NIAGARA FALLS 

Chapter 300, Laws of 1904 
An act to revise and consolidate the several acts relative to the city of 

Niagara Falls 

ARTICLE VIII 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 340 Boundaries 

341 Board of education; how constituted 

342 Organization 

343 Powers 

344 Duties 

345 Powers, subject to approval 

346 Certificate of expenses 

347 Approval of certificate 

348 School moneys to be kept separate 

349 Transfer of school moneys 

350 Purchase of site and buildings 

351 Report of expenditures 

352 State apportionments payable to treasurer 

353 Ordinances for school property 

Section 340 All the territories included within the boundaries of the city 
of Niagara Falls shall constitute a separate school district within this State, 
and shall be designated as the " union school district of the city of Niagara Falls." 
It may bear such other additional designation as the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of this State may by law prescribe. Such district shall be entitled to 
all rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by 
law or other State authority upon school districts, and shall be subject to all the 
rules, regulations, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law 
applicable to school districts in cities, except as otherwise provided by this act. 

§ 341 The affairs of said union school district of the city of Niagara Falls 
shall be managed by a board of nine members, to be organized in the manner 
herein provided, which board shall be known and designated as the " board of 
education of the city of Niagara Falls." Said board and its successors shall 
possess all the powers conferred and discharge all the duties imposed by this 
:act or by any general law of this State relating to school districts in cities, or 
relating to the boards of education of such districts, and not inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act. 

§ 342 On the Monday following the appointment of the members of the 
board of education to fill vacancies occurring in said board by expiration of 
term, the board of education shall convene at eight o'clock in the afternoon, at 
its usual place of meeting. The persons so appointed shall thereupon take the 
oath of office, and the board of education of the city of Niagara Falls as con- 

[278] 



EDUCATION CODE 279 

stituted for the preceding year shall be dissolved, and the board of education 
composed of the persons so appointed and those whose term of office shall not 
have expired, shall then be organized by the election of a president from among 
their number, and of some suitable person not of their number but who shall 
be a resident of said city as the clerk of said board. A majority of the board 
of education shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and it 
shall keep a record of its proceedings. 

§ 343 The board of education of the city of Niagara Falls shall have the 
power, subject to the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, lease, hold or 
improve any real or personal estate in trust for said school district of said city 
in the support and maintenance of schools, or for any of the purposes of educa- 
tion in said city. It may also take by purchase, gift, grant, bequest or devise 
and hold any real or personal estate in trust for any of the purposes of education 
or art or for the support or maintenance of public libraries in said city upon 
such terms as may be prescribed by the donor or donors and accepted by said 
board ; and it may execute any trust for any of the purposes aforesaid and 
provide for the proper execution thereof. It may also establish a system of 
pensions for public school teachers of the city whenever it shall deem the same 
advisable. The title of all schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus 
and other school property belonging to or in possession of the school district 
of the city of Niagara Falls shall so continue for the purposes of education, 
in said city subject to any existing liability. 

§ 344 Subject to the provisions of this act, said board shall have power, and 
it shall be their duty 

1 To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools, 
including night and vacation schools, as said board shall deem necessary and 
proper, and to change or discontinue the same in their discretion. 

2 To purchase, as herein prescribed, hire, sell or dispose of schoolhouses, 
lots, sites and school furniture as they may deem advisable. 

3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may 
deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, sup- 
plies and appendages, and to defray the necessary expense attending the same. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, out- 
houses, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinance and 
by-laws of said city in relation thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof 
punished. 

6 To contract with and employ janitors and employees. 

7 To contract with and employ a superintendent of instruction for said city 
and all necessary teachers and to remove said superintendent, teachers and other 
appointees under such rules and regulations as may be established by law or 
by the Department of Public Instruction of said State. 

8 To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such manner as they 



280 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

may deem best, but only for the purposes for which the same was so raised^ 
except as hereinafter provided. 

9 To Hcense, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of instruction 
of said city, all teachers now employed in the schools of said city, in the same 
manner and with like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties. 

10 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city 
for school purposes, upon making compensation therefor, in the same manner 
and under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act and as conferred 
upon the common council to take and appropriate lands for opening streets 
and highways. 

11 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers except The University 
of the State of New York, the Department of Public Instruction of this State, 
and as herein otherwise provided, the entire supervision and management of 
the schools in said city, and from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify or repeal 
as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, gov- 
ernment and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from 
one schoolroom or house to another, for their advancement from class to class 
as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of 
the good order and prosperity of said schools. 

12 To allow the children of persons nonresident within the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of said board upon such terms as said 
board by resolution may prescribe. 

13 To maintain a free public library, which shall be under the control of a 
board of library trustees consisting of the mayor, the president of the board 
of education and three other members, one of whom shall be elected by the 
board of education at the January meeting of said board, in each year, for a 
term of three years. The board of education shall have power to fill any 
vacancy in said board of library trustees for the unexpired term. The board 
of library trustees as now constituted is hereby continued. Said library trustees 
shall provide rooms for their use, and employ librarians or other employees 
and shall have the care of the library building and rooms and the books and 
other publications belonging thereto, and superintend the letting out and return 
thereof. 

14 To exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys 
provided by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the inhabitants 
of school districts. 

15 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

16 Except as otherwise provided in this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred and discharge all the duties imposed by the general laws of this State 
applicable to boards of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of 
said boards, or a transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall 
be received in all courts or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein 
stated. 



EDUCATION CODE 281 

§ 345 The powers given to the board of education in subdivisions 2, 3, 8 and 
10 of section 344 and to the trustees of the free public library in subdivision 13 
of section 344, with respect to the expenditure of money over two hundred 
dollars, shall be exercised subject to the approval of the board of estimate 
and apportionment. In the event of the board of estimate and apportionment 
disapproving of any action of said board of education or the trustees of the 
free public library, taken as aforesaid, such disapproval shall be referred back 
to the board of education or to the trustees of the free public library and such 
action shall not be valid or binding when so disapproved, unless three-fourths 
of all members of the board of education or of all the trustees of the free public 
library shall vote to take such action. If the board of estimate and apportion- 
ment shall fail or neglect to approve or disapprove any such action for thirty 
days after the same is presented to such board, then it shall take effect as if it had 
been approved. (As amended by L. ipo6, ch. JJ5-) 

§ 346 On or before the ist day of April of each year the board of education 
shall prepare a certificate of such sums of moneys as it may deem necessary 
for the school year commencing August ist thereafter for each of the following 
purposes, namely : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers after applying all the public 
school and other moneys applicable thereto. 

2 For the repair, enlargement or improvement of schoolhouses, outhouses and 
grounds with their appendages and appurtenances. 

3 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

4 For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes. 

5 For the purchase, maintenance and care of the free public library, library 
buildings and grounds. 

6 For the purchase of fuel and lights, and to pay the contingent expenses 
of the district, including the salaries of the janitors and the incidental expenses. 

§ 347 Such certificates shall within the time hereinbefore specified, be pre- 
sented to the board of estimate and apportionment of said city, and if a 
majority thereof shall approve, they shall sign it and immediately file the same 
with the city clerk; if within twenty days after it is received, they do not 
approve it, reject it or diminish any items therein contained the same shall be 
considered' as approved by the board of estimate and apportionment. Such 
annual certificates so approved or adopted shall be filed with the city clerk, and 
the common council of said city shall include the amount so certified in the 
annual city tax and assessment roll for that year, and such amount shall be 
collected by the city treasurer and credited to the various funds so designated 

in said certificate. , 1-1 j vu 

Whenever any said sum or sums shall have been so certified and filed with 
the city clerk, the city treasurer shall have authority and it shall be his duty 
to borrow upon the faith and credit of said city the amount so certified, or any 
part thereof which mav be necessary to meet the various orders of the board 



282 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of education upon him in paying the current expenses of said district for the 
year for which the certificates were presented. (As amended by L. ipii, 
ch. 645.) 

§ 348 All public moneys or other funds, other than the general city taxes, 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said district shall be paid to the city 
treasurer, who shall keep the same separate from the general funds of the city, 
and shall credit to each of said school funds the moneys or property belonging 
thereto. Upon request from said board the city treasurer shall certify from 
time to time the various balances remaining to the credit of any or all of the 
school and library funds, and the balances remaining unpaid to said various 
funds from the amount of the school certificate for that year. {As amended 
by L. igii, ch. 64^.) 

§ 349 It shall be the duty of the common council to direct the city treasurer, 
not later than the ist day of March in each year, to transfer from the general 
fund to the various school funds all moneys remaining due to such school funds 
from the general fund, upon the school certificate for the current school year. 

§ 350 When the board of education shall determine .by resolution that it is 
necessary to purchase any site or addition to any site, or erect any school build- 
ing, or enlarge any school building already erected, it shall in such resolution 
state the ward within which the site is to be purchased or building to be erected 
or enlarged, and the particular sum required for each separately. If said 
total sum exceeds five thousand dollars, they shall then call a tax election in 
said city in the manner provided in this act for the calling of tax elections by 
the common council. Such tax election may be held at the same time and 
with any other tax election in said city. The clerk of the board of education 
shall notify the inspectors of the holding of said tax election in the same manner 
and within the same time that he is required to notify them in cases of tax elec- 
tions called by the common council. The inspectors shall thereupon proceed 
to hold such election, pursuant to such resolution, and in the same manner as 
in holding other tax elections under this act, and the qualifications of the electors 
thereat shall be determined by the general school law of the State applicable to 
cities. When such tax election is not held at the same time and with a tax elec- 
tion called by the common council, as provided in this act, the board of educa- 
tion shall designate the polling places in each tax election district, and such tax 
election shall be held by the same inspectors, during the same hours and in the 
same manner as other tax elections under this act. Each elector at every such 
tax election shall vote only at the polling place designated for the tax election 
district in which he resides and shall have resided for the thirty days immedi- 
ately prior to said tax election. The vote shall be taken by ballot, which shall 
be indorsed " school tax," and shall be deposited in a separate ballot box pro- 
vided therefor and marked " school tax." The board of education shall at 
every such tax election provide sufficient printed ballots for the use of the 
electors thereat, upon which shall be printed the various items or objects to be 
voted for thereat, with the words " for " and " against " at the beginning of 



EDUCATION CODE 283 

each item. Each elector shall indicate his vote as to each of said items by- 
placing a cross before the word " for " if he favors the proposition, and before 
the word " against," if he opposes the proposition. The inspectors shall can- 
vass said votes without intermission or adjournment as at other elections, and 
make a statement thereof in respect to each item voted upon, and immediately 
file the same with the clerk of the board of education. Upon the day following 
such tax election the board of education shall convene at its usual place of 
meeting, at eight o'clock in the afternoon, and the statement from each polling 
place shall be produced, and the board shall forthwith declare and make a certifi- 
cate in writing of the result. In case a majority of the votes cast be in favor 
of any of said taxes, the board of education shall have authority to borrow 
upon the faith and credit of said city the aggregate of the items having such 
majority, or any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be 
provided for according to law. The board of education shall authorize the 
issue of bonds or other evidences of indebtedness, in such form and payable 
at such times as it may prescribe, for the sum or sums so authorized at a rate 
of interest not exceeding four per centum per annum. Said bonds or any 
part thereof may be sold by the board of estimate and apportionment to the 
highest bidder after advertisement, but at not less than the par value thereof. 
The board of education, after completing the work or other objects for which 
the said money may have been raised, may apply any unexpended balance that 
may remain to any object authorized or contemplated by this article. 

§ 351 It shall be the duty of the board of education, on or before the ist day 
of September in each year, to make and file with the common council a detailed 
report of the manner in which it shall have expended the money provided for 
and appropriated to school purposes from any source during the last school year 
of said board, and such report shall be published by the common council as a 
part of the proceedings of the meeting at which it is submitted. The board of 
education shall also make reports to The University of the State of New York 
and the Department of Public Instruction of the State, in such manner and at 
such times as they may direct. 

§ 352 The county treasurer of Niagara county shall pay over to the city 
treasurer of the city of Niagara Falls, and he shall receive for the use of the 
board of education of said city such proportion of the school, library and other 
money apportioned to the said city of Niagara Falls by the Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for teachers' wages and libraries, and other purposes as shall 
by law be apportioned to said board of education or district. 

§ 353 The common council of the city of Niagara Falls shall have the power 
and it shall be its duty to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of 
education of said city shall report as necessary for the protection, safekeeping, 
care and preservation of the school buildings and other property of said district, 
and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall deem 
proper. 

Section i6 provides that the mayor shall appoint a board of education of 
nine members and that the term of office of each member shall be three years. 



284 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Section 22 provides that each member of such board shall be an elector of 
the city. Section 60 prescribes the constitutional oath of office for each city- 
officer. Section 66 confers on the clerk of the board the power to take affidavits 
and acknowledgments and to administer oaths. Section 133 makes the records 
of any board when duly entered and properly certified by the clerk presumptive 
evidence of the proceedings of such board. Sections 180 and 181 relate to 
estimates by the several departments of the city government. Sections 192, 
I93» 194 and 196 relate to bids for supplies and work for the city in general. 
Section 211 exempts the school and library buildings from the care of the board 
of public works and section 213 makes a like exemption in supplying gas to such 
buildings. Section 219 provides that in giving notice of street improvement 
assessments, land owned by the city shall be excluded. 



NORTH TONAWANDA 

Chapter 752, Laws of 1907 
An act to revise the charter of the city of North Tonawanda 

TITLE XVIII 

CITY SCHOOLS 

Section i School districts. The territory included within the boundaries of 
the city of North Tonawanda shall remain in the several school districts as they 
exist at the time of the passage of this act. Such school districts and parts of 
school districts shall be entitled to all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys, 
and other benefits conferred by law or other State authority upon school districts, 
and shall be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of inspection, and superin- 
tendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts throughout the State, 
except as otherwise provided by this act. 

§ 2 School officers. The officers of the several school districts and parts of 
districts included within the boundaries of the city of North Tonawanda 
shall be the same as now provided by law, and shall possess the same power 
and be subject to the same duties and liabilities, except that the city 
treasurer shall be the collector for all districts lying wholly within the city, and 
he shall be the custodian of all such moneys as shall be paid to him by the county 
treasurer of Niagara county, and, also, of all moneys received for tuition, and 
all other receipts whatsoever. He shall keep a separate account with each of 
such districts, keeping each fund separate, as directed by the school authorities 
so to do, and shall pay out said moneys only upon warrants issued by the several 
school district officers, as directed by law. All taxes to be collected by the city 
treasurer shall be considered a part of the city taxes, and be governed by the 
same regulations as are herein provided. All districts lying wholly within the 
city shall have no other collector or treasurer than the city treasurer. 

§ 3 School moneys apportioned. The county treasurer shall pay over to the 
treasurer of the city of North Tonawanda, for the use of the several school 
districts lying wholly within the corporate limits of the city, such proportion of 
the school, library and other public moneys apportioned to the said districts by 
the Superintendent of Public Instruction for teachers' wages, libraries or other 
purposes, as shall by law be apportioned to the said districts lying wholly within 
the corporate limits of said city. 

I285I 



NORWICH 

This city was incorporated by the Laws of 1914, chapter 34. No provision is made in 
the city charter for the government of the schools and such schools are therefore governed 
by the general provisions of the Education Law. 



OGDENSBURG 

Chapter 382, Laws of 1857 

An act in relation to schools and academies in the village of Ogdensburg 

Section i All that territory comprised within the corporation limits of the 
village of Ogdensburg, lying in the town of Oswegatchie, and those parts of 
school districts nos. i and 21, of the town of Oswegatchie, lying without the said 
corporation limits, are hereby consolidated and organized into one school district, 
subject to the control of a board of education as hereinafter provided. 

§ 2 The district hereby organized shall participate in the distribution of the 
school moneys and library money, in the same manner as other school districts. 
Whenever the board of education shall be organized under this act, the amount 
to which the district shall be entitled from the moneys distributed by the State, 
shall be paid over to the treasurer of the village of Ogdensburg, subject to the 
orders of the said board of education. The amount to which said district shall 
be entitled for the year 1857, shall be determined by the school commissioners 
of the county of St Lawrence, and the supervisor of the town of Oswegatchie 
shall pay the amount so determined to the treasurer of said village, upon the 
order of said school commissioners. 

§ 3 The supervisor and town clerk, together with three of the justices of 
the peace of the town of Oswegatchie, shah on or before the ist day of May, 
1857, "^eet and divide the moneys derived from the sale of the school lot in said 
town, between the school district hereby organized and the remainder of said 
towns in proportion to the number of persons between 4 and 21 years of age, 
residing in the said village district and the said remainder ; they shall also at the 
same time estimate and determine the value of the interest of the town of 
Oswegatchie, exclusive of the interest of the village of Ogdensburg in the academy 
building and grounds ; they shall deduct the value of the interest of said town 
in such academy buildings and grounds from the share of the moneys derived 
from the sale of the school lot which would fall to the said district by this act 
organized ; and shall make and subscribe a record of such division, estimate and 
deduction, and the result thereof, one copy of which shall be filed with the town 
clerk, and another with the village clerk. Such acts when completed shall divest 
said town, except the village of Ogdensburg, of all interest in Ogdensburg 
academy buildings and grounds. That portion of the said moneys arising from 
the sale of the school lot remaining to this district, shall be subject to the control 
of the board of education, within the provisions of this act. 

[286] 



EDUCATION CODE 2^^ 

§ 4 On the second Wednesday of May 1857, the electors of said village, in 
the same manner as the charter elections are held, shall meet and choose nine of 
their number as school commissioners, who, when organized as hereinafter pro- 
vided, shall constitute the said board of education. Within eight days after 
notice of their election, they shall take the oath of office prescribed by the con- 
stitution and file the same with the village clerk ; within ten days after their 
election, the persons so chosen and qualified shall meet and by lot arrange them- 
selves into three equal classes, and class number one shall continue in office for 
one year, class number two for two years and class number three for three years, 
provided, however, that no term of office shall expire until a successor is chosen 
and qualified ; and on the same day in each year thereafter, three persons shall 
be chosen as school commissioners for the term of three years. Any person 
elected or appointed to such office for neglect or refusal to serve without cause, 
shall forfeit twenty dollars, to be sued for, collected and applied as other penalties 
provided for in this act. {See L. i8p^, ch. 4^4, post.) 

§ 5 One of the said commissioners shall be selected by a majority of their 
number as president of the said board of education, which office shall continue 
for one year; the president shall preside when present at all meetings of the 
board. 

§ 6 The village clerk shall be ex officio clerk of the board of education; he 
shall attend its meetings, make, engross and keep in a book provided for that 
purpose a record of all the doings, votes and reports of said board. 

§ 7 The board of education may elect any person not a member of their 
own body, superintendent of schools, who in addition to such other duties as 
may be devolved upon him by said board, shall visit and supervise the schools in 
said village, examine into and determine the qualifications of all teachers and 
grant certificates to such as are qualified as are now granted by school commis- 
sioners, but which shall be valid for only one year, and may be revoked for cause 
by himself or by resolution of said board ; he shall make out all annual and other 
reports touching the condition of the schools and all matters connected therewith. 
The term of office of such village superintendent of schools shall be three years, 
and his salary shall be fixed and paid by the board of education, and shall be a 
charge upon the general fund. (As amended by L. i86p, ch. 36^.) 

§ 8 In case of a vacancy in the said board of education, by refusal to serve 
or otherwise the said board may supply the same by appointment until the next 
annual election, when a commissioner shall be chosen for the remainder of the 
unexpired term. 

§ 9 The treasurer of the village of Ogdensburg shall be ex officio treasurer 
of the board of education; he shall receive all school moneys, keep the same 
under the respective heads of " Teachers fund," " General fund," " Special 
fund," and "Academy fund," to which such moneys shall belong, to the credit of 
the board of education of the village of Ogdensburg; he shall pay out the same 
only on the warrant of said board, in favor of the person entitled to receive it, 
signed by the president and clerk ; he shall report on the first day of each month. 



288 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

to said board, the receipts of all moneys since his previous report, from what 
source and to which fund, the sums paid out, from which fund and to whose 
order, and the balance of each fund remaining on hand, with any general infor- 
mation specially required in writing by said board; he shall give bonds for the 
faithful performance of his duties in this office in a sum not less than double the 
amount of money to come to his hands ; the form, amount and sufficiency of the 
sureties to be fixed and approved by said board of education and he shall renew 
the same as often and whenever said board by resolution shall require. 

§ 10 The board of education shall be a body corporate in relation to their 
powers and duties under this act ; five shall constitute a quorum for the transac- 
tion of business, except that when the question involves the appointment of school 
superintendent, or the removal of such superinendent or any teacher, the raising 
of money or the expenditure of over one hundred dollars, the assent of a majority 
of the whole board shall be requisite, and all questions shall be taken by ayes 
and nays, and the votes made a matter on record; any member of said board of 
education, or any officer, superintendent or teacher appointed by it may be 
removed for cause, after five days notice, by resolution of said board. 

§ II The members of said board of education shall not receive any compen- 
sation for their services as such, but shall be repaid all actual disbursements in- 
curred by them as such officers, nor shall they be interested as principal, partner 
or surety, in any contract connected with the schools or institute under the charge 
of said board, nor in making, erecting, furnishing or supplying anything what- 
ever for the use or connected therewith, neither the superintendent nor any 
teacher in the schools organized under this act, nor any member of the board of 
village trustees, clerk, treasurer or collector, of said village, shall be eligible to 
the office of said school commissioner. 

§ 12 The trustees of the village of Ogdensburg shall provide for the said 
board of education, a suitable room in which to hold their meetings, together 
with the proper and necessary furniture, stationery, fuel, lights, and books for 
records; said board shall meet as often as once in each month for the transac- 
tion of business, and special meetings may be called by the president or any three 
members of the board. 

§ 13 The said board of education, when organized as herein provided, shall 
be and they are hereby invested with full and perfect title to all sites, lands, 
buildings, and all and every other property belonging or pertaining to the school 
districts within the bounds of the district hereby organized, and of the Ogdens- 
burg Academy, to be kept and used for school purposes, except as hereinafter 
provided, and said board of education is hereby authorized and empowered to 
take and hold any and all real and personal estate or other things by grant, gift, 
devise or bequest, for the use of the schools or institute under its charge, and to 
use the same or sell and apply the proceeds as shall in its judgment best carry out 
the instructions of the donors, or subserve the interests of the schools. 

§ 14 Within ten days after notice of an organization of the board of educa- 
tion, the trustees of the several districts hereby consolidated shall make, execute 
and deliver to the said board, a deed in fee simple of all lands, sites, buildings or 



EDUCATION CODE 289 

fixtures owned or possessed by said districts, and shall also deliver to said board 
all school furniture and any and all school property, belonging to or connected 
with said school districts, and also all school moneys in hand or uncollected, and 
all tax and rate bills uncollected, and at the same time report to said board an 
annual statement of all indebtedness of their respective districts, insurance, 
teachers employed, their names, compensation and period of contracts. 

§ 15 The said board of education shall, within thirty days after receiving 
the reports required by section 14, from the trustees of said school districts, 
ascertain the amount of the indebtedness of each district, after the application of 
all its available means, and certify the same to the board of village trustees; 
they shall also, within the same time, determine what improvements and alterations 
are necessary in the schoolhouses, and the cost of the same beyond any funds ap- 
plicable to such purpose, and certify the same to said trustees ; and the said board 
of village trustees shall assess such several sums on all the taxable property in 
each of the respective districts where the money is to be used, and collect the same 
along with the first village tax collected thereafter, and place the same to the 
credit of the board of education and the village treasurer. 

§ 16 All the taxable property within the bounds of the district hereby organ- 
ized shall be liable to taxation under this act; and taxes shall be apportioned 
upon the property within the corporation according to the valuation in the last 
village assessment roll, and upon property lying without the village corporation, 
according to the valuation to be fixed by the village assessors, which they shall 
each year ascertain and assess as they do other property and attach at the end of 
the village roll. 

§ 17 On or before the ist day of May next, and on or before the ist day of 
May in each year thereafter, the board of education shall determine and certify 
to the common council of the city of Ogdensburg the amount of money over and 
above all other funds in hand, appHcable to that purpose, required for teachers' 
wages for the year commencing on the ist day of April, and said board of educa- 
tion shall, at the same time, determine and certify to the said common council 
what sum of money, exclusive of any applicable to such purposes, is necessary 
and requisite to defray for the year the expenses for fuel, books for indigent 
scholars, school furniture and apparatus, insurance, leasing additional school- 
rooms, repairing houses, outhouses, fences and other expenses ordinarily incident 
to the maintenance of such schools ; and the said common council shall cause to 
be assessed the several sums of money so certified on the taxable property and 
corporations within the district hereby organized, and collect the same along with 
the first city tax thereafter collected, which sums shall be placed with the city 
treasurer to the credit of the board of education, the first sum to the teachers' 
fund and the other sum to the general fund ; provided, however, in no case shall 
the assessment for these purposes in any one year exceed seventy-five cents on the 
one hundred dollars on the property valuation of the said assessment rolls liable 
for said tax. In addition to the sum heretofore authorized to be raised, the said 
board of education shall, at the same time, certify to the common council of the 

10 



290 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

city of Ogdensburg, the sum which they shall deem necessary to be raised to pay 
the salary of the sttperintend'ent of schools in said city, not to exceed one thousand 
five hundred dollars, and the said common council shall cause the sum to be col- 
lected in the same manner as other moneys for the support of schools in said city, 
and place the same to the credit of the board of education in the general fund. 
Whenever the aforementioned assessments are valid, if for any reason the col- 
lector is unable to collect the full amount of hrs warrant, the common council shall 
supply any deficiency to these two funds, provided for by this section, out of any 
moneys which may come into the city treasury, and shall deposit the same as above. 
(As amended by L. 1866, ch. 58; L. 1868, ch. 24Q; L. 1869, ch. 363; L. 18/1, 
ch. 186; L. 1893, ch. 381; L. i8p8, ch. 298; L. ipoo, ch. 5/3; L. igoy, ch. 
537; L. 1914, ch. 226.) 

§ 17-0 When the money of any fund or funds of the board of education has 
been exhausted in any year and the board shall have determined and certified to 
the common council as provided in section seventeen of this act, and some time 
will elapse before the common council can turn over the school funds to the city 
treasurer, by reason of the city tax being collectible later in the year, such board 
is hereby authorized and empowered to borrow money at such times and in such 
amounts as shall be necessary for the maintenance of the schools of such dis- 
trict, pending the receipt of such school moneys from the city tax of the current 
fiscal year, but not exceeding in the aggregate the sums certified for such year. 

For all moneys so borrowed the board of education shall issue certificates of 
indebtedness, signed by the president and clerk of the board and countersigned 
by the city treasurer, which shall be in such form and denominations and draw 
such rate of interest, not exceeding the legal rate, as the board of education shall 
determine, and shall be sold for not less than par. Such certificates shall mature 
not later than December ist in the current year and shall be paid from the school 
moneys made available by the common council for school purposes for the same 
fiscal year. {As added by L. ipij, ch. 113.) 

§ 18 The common schools and the Ogdensburg Academy, hereafter to be kept 
and maintained in the district hereby organized, shall be free to all persons, 
between the ages of 4 and 21 years, whose parents or guardians are actual resi- 
dents of the district. The superintendent of schools and city clerk are hereby au- 
thorized to administer oaths and take afl^davits in all matters pertaining to the 
schools and academy provided for by this act, which shall have the same validity 
as if administered or taken by a justice of the peace, but they shall receive no 
remuneration therefor. {As amended by L. 188 1, ch. 70.) 

§ 19 The trustees of the Ogdensburg Academy shall at the time specified in 
section 14, make, execute and deliver to the board of education, a deed in fee 
simple of the Ogdensburg Academy and grounds, and also deliver over to 
said board all property of whatever kind or nature, pertaining to said academy, 
with a report of all indebtedness, the names and compensation of its teachers 
and the time for which employed. 

§ 20 The board of education shall, at the same time they make their certifi- 
cates, as provided by section 15, determine what alterations or repairs to fit 



EDUCATION CODE 29I 

the academy building for the purposes of an institute, and furnish it, over and 
above all means at their disposal for such purpose; and if they shall elect so to 
fit up and furnish it, they shall certify the sum so required, to the board of trus- 
tees, who shall assess the same upon the taxable property within the district here- 
by organized and cause the same to be collected along with the next village tax, 
and paid over as other sums to the academy fund. 

§ 21 As soon as practicable after the necessary buildings are prepared the 
board of education shall organize a school to be designated the Ogdensburg 
Academy, which said academy shall be entitled to participate in the distribution 
of the literature and other funds, as do other academies of the State, and the 
Regents of the University shall pay annually to the board of education, said 
academy's distributive share of such funds. Said academy shall be subject to 
the visitation and control of said Regents in like manner as other incorporated 
academies. The said academy is hereby invested with all the rights of the old 
Ogdensburg Academy to any revenues derived from ferry licenses or other 
sources. (As amended by L. 188 1, ch. yo.) 

§ 22 Whenever the board of education shall deem the erection of additional 
schoolhouses necessary for the common schools, or new and additional edifices 
for the Ogdensburg Academy, they shall determine the kind of house, or edifice, 
the sum required to erect the same, purchase the site, and furnish the appurte- 
nances, specifying the cost of each separately, and certify the same to the common 
council of the city of Ogdensburg. And said common council shall thereupon call 
a special election for the purpose of voting upon the said application in the same 
manner as other special elections are held in said city for the purpose of voting 
upon special taxes, except that four weeks' notice of such special election shall be 
given instead of two weeks, during which time said application and specifications 
shall be advertised once a week in two of the newspapers published in said 
city. At such election the common council shall provide a box for ballots labeled 
" schools " and also ballots on which shall be written or printed " for the school 
tax " and others so headed on which shall be written or printed " against the 
school tax." If more than one proposition is submitted at the same time separate 
boxes shall be prepared, each so labeled as to designate its proper object, thus 
" schools," " appropriation for academy," " schools," " appropriation for school- 
house," and the ballots shall be so headed, and shall be in other respects as herein 
previously provided ; and the inhabitants of said district entitled under the present 
charter of the city of Ogdensburg to vote for special city tax shall decide by ballot 
for or against such appropriation. If a majority of such voters declare for any 
such appropriation the common council shall assess the same upon all the taxable 
property in said district, and direct its collection with the next city tax, and when 
collected to be paid over to the credit of the special fund, provided, however, 
that the common council may have the power to apportion said tax for two or 
more years up to four, and when so apportioned the board of education may 
borrow money on credit of said tax. The election shall be held in the same 
manner, except as herein otherwise prescribed, as other special elections for 



292 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

special city taxes. (As amended by L. 1881, ch. 70; L. i88g, ch. 220; L. 18^4, 
ch. 434.) 

§ 23 All moneys raised, received, or in any wise belonging to the academy 
or to the school or district hereby organized, shall be under the control of the 
board of education ; but no moneys raised for a specific or particular purpose 
shall be applied to, or used for, any other purpose. Said board of education is 
hereby prohibited from contracting debts for any purpose whatever; and the 
lands, sites, buildings and personal property belonging to said academy or 
schools, or used or kept for school purposes, shall be forever exempt from 
taxation, and from levy and sale on execution. {As amended by L. 188 1, ch. 70.) 

§ 24 The libraries of the several school districts hereby consolidated, shall 
be subject to the control and direction of said board of education; they shall 
provide for their safekeeping; may keep separate or consolidate them into one 
or more school libraries ; dispose of any duplicates or unsuitable volumes, and 
apply the proceeds, together with the library money arising from the common 
school fund, to the purchase of new books. 

§ 25 The board of education may prescribe the form and qualifications 
requisite to the admission into the Ogdensburg Academy, the course of studies 
to be pursued, and the textbooks to be used may fix the rates to be charged for 
tuition to those whose parents or guardians are not actual residents of the 
district, may demand such tuition bills in advance, and may in their discretion 
divide the said academy into male and female departments, and may grant 
diplomas to graduates of said academy. {As amended by L. 188 1, ch. 70.) 

§ 26 The board of education shall have full power and it shall be their duty: 

1 To organize as many common schools in the village as shall be necessary 
for the accommodation of those who attend, and change, consolidate and dis- 
continue them. 

2 To lease schoolrooms and furnish the same, to sell or exchange the present 
academy building and grounds, upon a vote of the majority of all the mem- 
bers of said board; and when authorized as herein provided, to purchase sites 
and erect schoolhouses and academies. 

3 To provide books and stationery for indigent scholars, and all necessary 
instruments and apparatus for the academy and schools. 

4 To prescribe the course of studies in the schools, the textbooks to be used 
therein, and to do such other acts as will best promote the efficiency and 
utility of the same. 

5 To make rules and regulations for the protection of the buildings, furniture 
and grounds pertaining to the said academy and schools. 

6 To employ teachers and pay the same, to make rules and regulations for 
the reception of pupils, or their exclusion from school, or their transfer from 
one school to another, not inconsistent with the general law, securing the freedom 
of schools to all pupils residing in the district, and to amend or repeal the same 
or to make others. 



EDUCATION CODE 



293 



7 To sue for and collect in their corporate name all penalties prescribed or 
authorized by this act; and for all destruction of or injury to any school property. 

8 To effect insurance on any or all school property. 

9 To make the reports required by law to the school commissioners and 
Board of Regents. 

10 To employ a suitable and competent person to take the census of persons 
within said district, over 4 and under 21 years of age, and pay him therefor. 

11 To cause to be prepared and presented to the board of trustees, between 
the 1st and 15th days of April in each year, a full report of all the acts of said 
board, wherein shall be set forth the number, kind and grade of schools kept ; the 
number of scholars, time each has attended and studies pursued ; the number of 
teachers employed and compensation to each; the money received, from what 
sources derived, the amount disbursed, and how expended, and what sums 
remaining on hand in each fund ; and any other matters connected with the costs 
and operation of the schools and academy which they may deem proper; and the 
board of trustees shall cause the same to be published two weeks previous to the 
annual election, in one of the newspapers published in said village. (As amended 
by L. 188 1, ch. 70.) 

§ 2y The board of trustees shall cause this act to be published together with 
such rules, regulations, and by-laws as shall be adopted by the board of educa- 
tion ; and any copy of the same or either, duly certified by the clerk of said board 
under his hand and seal, shall be received as evidence in all courts of justice, 
with the same force and effect as the originals if produced and duly proved. 

§ 28 The acts and decisions of the board of education, and of the superin- 
tendent of schools by them appointed, shall be subject to appeal in the same 
manner as appeals are taken from the acts of school trustees and school com- 
missioners and from the trustees of the Ogdensburg Academy. 

§ 29 On the organization of the board of education, the office of " trustee 
of the Ogdensburg Academy " and " trustee of the school district " in the dis- 
tricts hereby consolidated, and all other officers in said districts shall terminate, 
except so far as to authorize them to perform the duties imposed by sections 14 
and 19 of this act. 

§ 30 Whenever the village of Ogdensburg shall be incorporated as a city, 
with or without additional territory, then this act shall apply to that corporation, 
the same as now to the village corporation, and common council of said city 
shall take the place of the board of trustees, and shall be charged with all the 
responsibilities and duties, and privileges devolving upon said board of trustees 
by this act. {As amended by L. 1868, ch. 24^.) 

All acts and parts of acts, inconsistent with this act and the acts hereby 
amended are hereby declared inoperative in, and inapplicable to, the territory 
comprised within the district by said act organized. 

§ 31 The Legislature may at any time, alter, amend, or repeal this act. 

§ 32 This act shall take effect immediately. 



294 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chapter 454, Laws of 1893 

An act to provide for the election of school commissioners of the city of 
Ogdensburg, and their term of office 

Section i There shall be no election of school commissioners in May, 1907. 
On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, in the year 1906, 
there shall be elected on the same ballot as other city officers, by a plurality vote 
of electors of the city of Ogdensburg, nine school commissioners, three for 
terms beginning on the ist day of June, 1907, and expiring on the 31st day of 
December, 1908, three for terms beginning on the ist day of June, 1907, and 
expiring on the 31st day of December, 1910, and three for terms beginning on 
the 1st day of June, 1907, and expiring on the 31st day of December, 1912. 
Three such school commissioners shall be elected biennially thereafter, each for 
a term of six years from the ist day of January next following their election, 
and until the qualification of their successors. The terms of office of all the 
school commissioners of said city in office on the 31st day of May, 1907, shall 
expire on that day. The school commissioners elected under the provisions 
hereof shall continue to constitute the board of education of said city, with all 
the powers and duties of, and governed by the same provisions of law relating 
to, their predecessors whose retirement is effected by this act, except as herein 
otherwise provided. (As amended by L. igo6, ch. 4P5.) 

§ 2 If a vacancy occurs in the office of school commissioner otherwise than 
by expiration of term prior to the time of filing nominations for a city office the 
board of education may appoint a person to fill such vacancy for a term expiring 
on the 31st day of December of the year in which the next biennial city election 
thereafter is held, and at such election, such vacancy if the term of office con- 
tinues beyond the 31st day of December succeeding shall be filled for the 
unexpired term. If a vacancy occurs in the office of school commissioner 
otherwise than by the expiration of term subsequent to the time of filing nomina- 
tions for a city office and prior to the next biennial city election, the board of 
education may appoint a person to fill such vacancy for a term expiring on the 
31st day of December succeeding the second biennial city election thereafter, 
unless the term of office sooner expires, and at such election, such vacancy, if the 
term of office continues beyond the 31st day of December succeeding, shall be 
filled for the unexpired term. A vacancy in the office of school commissioner 
occurring before June i, 1907, shall be filled by the board of education for a 
term expiring on May 31, 1907. (As amended by L. ipo6, ch. 495.) 

§ 3 Said board of education may call a primary of voters of said city of 
Ogdensburg, irrespective of party, to meet for the purpose of making nomina- 
tions for school commissioners of said city. Said primary shall be held not 
more than forty days nor less than thirty days before any biennial city elec- 
tion, and a certificate of such nominations designating them as citizens' nomina- 
tions for school commissioners shall be filed with the county clerk of Saint 
Lawrence county at least twenty-five days and not more than thirty-five days 
before the election for which such nominations shall be made, and such nomina- 



EDUCATION CODE 295 

tions shall be treated as a party nomination under the election law, and all the 
provisions of said election law, applicable to party nominations, not inconsistent 
herewith, shall be applicable thereto. At the primary held in the year 1906, the 
duration of the terms of office for which the several candidates are nominated 
shall be indicated by the voters at such primary, according to the classification 
mentioned in section i hereof, and shall be specified in said certificate. {As 
amended by L. ipo6, ch. 495.) 

§ 4 So much of chapter 382 of the Laws of the year 1857, entitled "An act 
in relation to schools and academies in the village of Ogdensburg," and the 
several acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto as conflicts with the 
provisions of this act, is hereby repealed. 

§ 5 This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 105, Laws of 1859 

An act enlarging the powers of the board of education of the village of 

Ogdensburg 

Section i The board of education of the village of Ogdensburg are hereby 
authorized to complete all or any of the unfinished rooms in the schoolhouses 
in said village which they may deem necessary, or to rent others or repair or 
insure said schoolhouses, and to provide the same with suitable furniture. They 
shall estimate the expense thereof and on or before the ist day of April there- 
after of each year shall certify the amount of such estimate to the board of 
trustees of said village, and thereupon it shall be the duty of said trustees to 
report the same to an annual meeting, or to a special meeting of the inhabitants 
of said village, who are liable to pay taxes for school purposes, and if a vote 
of a majority of persons attending said meeting be in favor of said tax, it shall 
be the duty of the trustees of said village to assess the amount of such estimate 
upon the taxable property of the consolidated school district, to be collected 
with the general tax ; but no such tax shall be raised by vote of a special meet- 
ing, unless it shall have been stated in the notice calHng such special meeting. 
that a tax is to be voted upon, and the amount to be raised and for what purpose. 
The money so raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the village, in a " special 
fund," to the credit of the board of education, and shall be expended only for 
the purpose of completing and furnishing the schoolrooms as aforesaid, except 
as hereinafter provided, and shall be accounted for in the same manner as other 
moneys paid out by the board of education are by law accounted for. 

§ 2 In case the sum estimated and raised as above provided, shall be insuffi- 
cient to complete, repair, insure or rent, and furnish the schoolrooms as aforesaid, 
the board of education shall certify to the trustees the amount of the deficiency, 
and the trustees shall levy the amount thereof along with the next general tax 
upon the consoHdated school district. And in case there shall remain a surplus, 
the amount thereof shall be certified to the trustees, and the sum shall be abated 
from the next general tax upon said district, and thereupon the amount of such 



29^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

surplus may be transferred from the special fund to the " teachers " or " general 
school fund/' and be subject to the order of the board of education for the 
purposes for which those funds are raised respectively. 

§ 3 The trustees of said village, in their discretion, may assess one-half the 
sum estimated, as provided in the first section of this act to be collected the first 
year ; and the balance of the actual expense may be borrowed, or a liability by 
contract incurred, and the amount thereof, with interest, shall be collected the 
following year. 

§ 4 This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 187, Laws of 1903 

An act for the submission to the electors of the city of Ogdensburg, Saint 
I-awrence county. New York, the question of furnishing free textbooks for the 
pupils of the school district of said city 

Section i At the next charter election to be held in the city of Ogdensburg, 
Saint Lawrence county. New York, on the second Wednesday of May, 1903, 
the electors of said city are authorized to vote upon the question of furnishing 
at the expense of such city free textbooks and ordinary school supplies for the 
use of the pupils of the school district of said city below the academic grade. 
The officer or officers required by law to provide ballots for such election shall 
furnish ballots for the use of the electors of said city which shall contain the 
words " For free textbooks and supplies," and "Against free textbooks and sup- 
plies." The city clerk shall publish, in at least two daily papers of the city once 
a week for three weeks immediately preceding such election, notice that at such 
election said question will be submitted to the electors of the city. The election 
officers shall deliver such ballots to the electors voting at such election, and the 
inspectors of election shall receive and deposit in a separate box prepared for 
that purpose the votes cast thereon and shall canvass and make return to the 
common council of the number of such ballots cast thereat in the same manner 
that they canvass and return other ballots cast for the city officers. 

§ 2 If the number of ballots containing the words " For free textbooks and 
supplies " exceed those containing the words "Against free textbooks and sup- 
plies," the board of education of said city shall within ten days after such elec- 
tion submit to the common council an estimate of the amount of money, not 
exceeding two thousand dollars, necessary to defray the expense of providing 
and caring for free textbooks and supplies for the pupils of the school district 
of said city below academic grade, and the common council shall cause such sum 
to be levied and collected in the same manner as other moneys are now levied 
and collected in the school district of said city, in addition to and beyond the 
moneys now authorized to be raised for school purposes, and the board of 
education shall thereafter include in their annual estimate such sum, not exceed- 
ing fifteen hundred dollars, as they may deem necessary to provide for free text- 
books and supplies for such pupils, and the common council shall cause the same 
to be levied and collected in addition to the sum now authorized by law to be 
annually levied and collected for school purposes. 



EDUCATION CODE 297 

§ 3 The moneys so levied and collected shall be paid to the treasurer of the 
city to the credit of the board of education to be known as the free textbook and 
supply fund, to be used by such board in the purchase of textbooks and supplies 
for the use of the pupils of the several schools of the school district of said city, 
and for no other purpose. 

§ 4 All books and supplies furnished under the provisions of this act, shall 
remain the property of the board of education, and the said board may make such 
rules and regulations concerning the use, preservation, care, return, custody, dis- 
position or sale of such books and supplies by or to the pupils of said schools as 
they may deem necessary. 

§ 5 All acts inconsistent therewith are hereby repealed. 

§ 6 This act shall take effect immediately. 



OLEAN* 

Chapter i68, Laws of 1882 

An act conferring additional powers on the trustees of union free school district 
number i of the town of Olean, Cattaraugus county, and granting additional 
privileges to said district 

Section i The trustees of union free school district number i of the town of 
Olean are hereby authorized and empowered to employ in behalf of said district 
a superintendent of common schools who shall under the direction of said trustees 
have the general supervision of all the public schools in said district and perform 
such duties as the said trustees may prescribe. 

§ 2 Said union free school district number i, of the town of Olean, in the 
county of Cattaraugus, shall upon and after the passage of this act have all the 
powers, and possess all the privileges conferred upon cities and incorporated 
villages having a population of 5000 and upwards, by section 6 of title 3 of 
chapter 555 of the Laws of 1864, entitled, "An act to revise and consohdate the 
general acts relating to public instruction " as the same was amended by chapter 
374 of the Laws of 1876, entitled, "An act to amend section 9 of chapter 667 
of the Laws of 1875, entitled, "An act to amend chapter 555 of the Laws of 
1864, entitled "An act to revise and consolidate the general acts relating to public 
instruction." 

Chapter 535, Laws of 1915 

An act to consolidate and revise the several acts, relative to the city of Olean 
§ 133 . . . The city of Olean shall, for all purposes relating to the assessment 
and collection of taxes, be and constitute a separate town in said county of 
Cattaraugus. The board of supervisors shall levy upon said city the propor- 
tionate share or amount of tax authorized by the laws of this State for the re- 
spective towns. Nothing in this act contained shall alter or change the terri- 
torial limits of union free school district number i of the town of Olean, and 
such school district shall remain the same as though this act had not been passed, 
and the board of education of said school district shall continue to levy and col- 
lect all school taxes in said district in the manner provided by law, and such 
school district shall continue subject to all the provisions of law applicable to 
common schools, and shall exist and be controlled under the general school laws 
of the State of New York in all respects as in towns. The assessment roll in the 
city of Olean shall be considered a town assessment roll in relation to all property 
therein, for assessment and taxation for school purposes; and as regards such 
school district the city of Olean shall be considered a town, and the common 
council shall have the same authority as the supervisor of a town. The moneys, 

' The provisions of the Education Law apply to this city. 

[298 I 



EDUCATION CODE 299 

however, apportioned to said school district shall be paid directly by the treasurer 
of Cattaraugus county to the treasurer of said school district upon filing with the 
treasurer of said county a certificate in writing signed by the president of the 
board of education of said school district and the clerk of said school district, to 
the efifect that the treasurer of said school district, naming him, has given the 
security required by law for the faithful discharge of his duties as such treasurer 
and is entitled to receive all moneys apportioned to said school district. 



ONEIDA 

Chapter 648, Laws of 191 1 

An act to revise, consolidate and amend generally chapter 225 of the Laws 
of 1901, known as '"the charter of the city of Oneida," and the several acts 
amendatory thereof, and repealing certain acts 

TITLE XVII 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 240 City, permanent school district 

241 Board of education 

242 Succession of property and obligations 

243 Election, powers and duties of the president 

244 Superintendent of schools 

245 Clerk and his duties 

246 General powers of the board of education 

247 Powers of board of education to raise money for support of schools 

248 Board of education budget 

249 Payment of funds to chamberlain 

250 Powers of board of education to purchase sites or erect school buildings 

251 Annual report of board of education 

252 State Superintendent of PubHc Instruction to apportion State moneys 

253 Common council shall pass ordinance for protection of school property 

254 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any member of the board of 

education 

255 Report of superintendent of schools 

256 District a union free school district 

Section 240 City, permanent school district. The public schools within the 
corporation tax district, including all territory within such district and the resi- 
dents therein, shall constitute one school district and shall not be subject to 
alteration. Such district shall be entitled to all the rights, powers and privileges 
and public moneys and other benefits conferred by law or other State authority, 
and shall, except as otherwise provided in this act, be subject to all the rules, 
regulations, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable 
to school districts in cities. The schools in said city outside of the corporation 
tax district shall be under the same supervision and control as other common 
schools in Madison county, under the general school laws of the State in all 
respects as in towns. 

§ 241 Board of education. The affairs of said school district within said city 
of Oneida shall be managed by a board of five members, to be appointed in the 
manner provided in this act, which board shall be known and designated as the 
" Board of education of the city of Oneida." Such board and its successors shall 
possess all the powers and discharge all the duties imposed by this act, or by any 
general law of this State relating to school districts in cities, or relating to boards 
of education of such district, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

[300] 



EDUCATION CODE 3OI 

§ 242 Succession to property and obligations. The title to all real estate 
and personal property now belonging to any school district wholly within said 
corporation tax district in said city is hereby vested in the board of education of 
the city of Oneida, and all moneys and funds belonging to any district wholly 
within said corporation tax district shall be paid over and delivered to the 
chamberlain of said city and credited by him to the school fund of the city. 
All the rights, powers, privileges, contracts, obligations and liabilities of any 
school district wholly within said corporation tax district are hereby transferred 
to and vested in and imposed upon said board of education of the city of Oneida 
as hereby created; and the rights and privileges of all persons that may have 
arisen or accrued prior to the passage of this act shall remain and be enforced 
by or against the board of education of the city of Oneida, and its successors, 
in the same manner and with like effect as the same might have been enforced by 
or against the board of education of union free school district number 4 of the 
town of Oneida or school district number 5 of said town, if this act had not been 
passed; subject, however, to the provisions of this act. 

§ 243 Election, powers and duties of president. The members of the board 
of education shall at their first meeting in March in each year elect one of their 
members as president, who shall hold said office for the ensuing year. The 
president shall preside over meetings of the board, and perform such executive 
acts and duties as required by this act and general laws, and such other lawful 
business as shall be placed in his charge by said board. 

§ 244 Superintendent of schools. The said board of education on the first 
Tuesday of May in the year 1913, and in each third year thereafter, shall appoint 
a superintendent of schools for the term of three years; such superintendent 
shall be under the direction of the board of education, which shall prescribe his 
powers and duties ; he shall be paid from the teachers fund a salary, to be fixed 
by the board of education. Whenever such superintendent shall be appointed, the 
said school district shall be entitled to the benefits of the provisions of chapter 
140 of the Laws of 1910, and the amendments thereto. 

§ 245 Clerk and his duties. The superintendent of schools shall be clerk of 
the board of education, and shall act as secretary and keep the minutes of said 
board, and shall perform such other duties as shall be required by this act and 
the general school laws of the State, and such other duties as the board may 
prescribe. 

§ 246 General powers of the board of education. Subject to the powers and 
provisions of this act and the general school laws, the board of education of 
the city of Oneida shall have the power and it shall be its duty: 

1 To establish and organize in said corporation tax district such and so 
many free schools as said board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to 
change or discontinue the same at its discretion. 

2 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as it may 
deem advisable. 



302 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

3 To purchase, sell or exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages, and to defray the necessary expenses attending the 
same. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages and to see that the ordinances and by-lav^s of 
said city in regard thereto are enforced and any violation thereof punished. 

5 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers for the schools of the 
city within said district under such conditions, rules and regulations as may be 
established by the board, provided that 'such rules and regulations are in accord 
with the general school laws of the State and the rules and regulations established 
by the Department of Public Instruction of the State. 

6 To pay the salaries of superintendent of schools and teachers out of any 
moneys appropriated or provided by law for that purpose. 

7 To defray the necessary expenses of the board and district, including the 
wages of librarian, janitors and other assistants and employees and incidental 
expenses. 

8 To expend all moneys, raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, 
erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such a manner as 
may be deemed advisable, but only for the purposes for which the same was 
raised. 

9 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor in the same manner and 
under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon the 
board of public works and common council for opening streets and public 
highways. 

10 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers except the Superintendent 
of Public Instruction and the Regents of the University of this State, the entire 
management of the schools of said corporation tax district; from time to time to 
adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and regulations 
for its organization, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and 
their transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse to another, for their advance- 
ment from class as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, and generally to 
promote the good order, efficiency and prosperity of all the schools of the district. 

1 1 To allow children or persons nonresidents within the district to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of said board, upon such terms as said 
board may, by resolution, prescribe. 

12 To establish and maintain a public school library and provide suitable rooms 
for the use of the same ; to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of 
the moneys provided by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the 
inhabitants of school districts. 

13 Other than as provided by this act to exercise all the powers conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

14 Other than as provided in this act, to exercise all the powers conferred and 
all the duties imposed by the general laws of the State applicable to boards of 
education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a tran- 



EDUCATION CODE 303 

script thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all the 
court^ and places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 247 Powers of board of education to raise money for support of schools. 
On or before the loth day of October in each year, the said board of education 
shall prepare a statement of such sums of money as it shall deem necessary dur- 
ing the fiscal year commencing with the ist day of January next ensuing for each 
of the following purposes : 

1 For wages of superintendent of schools after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school and of such grade schools as the said 
board of education may deem necessary and the payment of the teachers thereof 
and a librarian, after applying such of the public school and other moneys as 
may be applicable thereto. 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds with the appendages 
and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay contingent expenses of the 
district, including the salaries of janitors, assistants, employees, and incidental 
expenses. 

5 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

§ 248 Board of education budget. Before the meeting of the board of 
education at which the aforesaid statement is prepared, the said board of educa- 
tion shall give to the mayor official notice thereof and the mayor shall attend 
such meeting and be accorded the right of inquiry into all items of said state- 
ment and all the privileges in said meeting of the members of said board, ex- 
cept the privilege of voting. Whenever the board of education shall have finally 
determined on the statement of expenses itemized as heretofore indicated it shall 
present the same to the mayor or acting mayor of the city of Oneida. If the 
mayor or acting mayor approves such statement he shall sign it and immediately 
file it with the city clerk ; if he disapproves of the same, or any item therem, he 
shall within five days return the statement, with his objections to the same or to 
such item indorsed thereon or annexed thereto, to the president of the board of 
education. Said board of education shall then proceed to reconsider such state- 
ment, and if two-thirds of the members then in office agree to sustam the state- 
ments as made, it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall 
immediately be filed with the city clerk. If two-thirds of the members of said 
board do not agree to sustain the statement as made, it shall be modified so as to 
conform to the views expressed by the mayor in his objection, or the board shall 
present a new statement; if the mayor approve such new statement he shall sign 
it and file it with the city clerk. But if he does not approve any item thereof he 
shall, within twenty-four hours, return the same with his objections as before 
The board of education shall continue to present statements as aforesaid until 
the mayor's approval is obtained or until two-thirds of the members of said board 

1 So in the original. 



304 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

agree to pass the same over his objections, and said statement when thus ap- 
proved or passed shall be filed with the city clerk. If the mayor or acting mayor 
fails to sign a statement of moneys required as herein provided, or fails to return 
said statement, with his objections thereto, to the board of education within five 
days after its submission, said statement shall be filed with the city clerk in the 
same manner as if it had been approved. When such statement is finally filed 
with the city clerk, the common council of said city shall include in the annual 
tax and assessment roll for that year the amount specified in said final statement 
and the same shall be collected by the city chamberlain who shall credit the same 
to the general school fund of the board of edupation. 

§ 249 Payment of funds to chamberlain. All public moneys or funds be- 
longing or appropriated to the use of said school district or to the use of school 
district numbers 4 and 5 of the town of Oneida, and all public moneys or funds 
appropriated to the use of the union free school district of the city of Oneida 
shall be paid to the chamberlain of said city, who shall keep the same separate 
from the general funds of the city and shall credit to the school fund the moneys 
or property belonging thereto. The board of education shall disburse all the 
school funds of said district by orders upon the chamberlain signed by the presi- 
dent and clerk of the board of education. Said orders shall be numbered con- 
secutively and shall specify the purpose for which they are drawn and the per- 
son to whom payable. Upon request from said board the chamberlain shall cer- 
tify from time to time the balance remaining to be collected or paid to the city 
chamberlain for school purposes; it shall not be lawful for said chamberlain to 
apply such moneys, or any part thereof, to any other purpose or object. 

§ 250 Powers of board of education to purchase sites or erect school build- 
ings. Whenever the board of education shall resolve by an affirmative vote of 
a majority of its members that it is necessary to purchase a site or addition to 
any site, or to erect any school building, or enlarge any school building already 
erected, it shall specify in such resolution the ward in which such site is to be 
purchased or building erected or enlarged, and the particular sum required for 
each separately. The board of education shall then deliver a certified copy of 
such resolution to the mayor who shall, within thirty days of the receipt of said 
resolution, call a special election of the electors of said corporation tax district 
to vote for or against such appropriations as the proposed expenditures will 
impose. Said election shall be conducted and the result declared and certified 
pursuant to the provisions and manner prescribed for conducting special elections 
provided elsewhere in this act, and the expenses of such election shall be paid out 
of the contingent fund of the corporation tax district. In case a majority of the 
votes cast be in favor of any of said appropriations, the common council shall 
borrow, upon the faith and credit of said city, the aggregate of the items having 
such majority, or any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be 
provided for according to law. The common council shall issue bonds or other 
evidence of indebtedness in such forms as it may prescribe, at an annual rate of 
interest not exceeding five per centum, and payable at such times and in such 
amounts as the common council shall determine. Said bonds or any part thereof 



EDUCATION CODE 305 

may be sold by the common council in such manner as it may deem best, but at 
not less than the par value thereof. The proceeds of the sale of such bonds shall 
be paid to the city chamberlain and shall be expended only for the work or 
objects for which the same was raised except that the board of education, after 
completing the work or other objects for which said money may have been raised, 
may apply any unexpended balance that may remain to any purpose mentioned 
in section 247 of this act. 

§ 251 Annual report of board of education. It shall be the duty of the board 
of education, on or before the loth day of January in each year, to make to the 
common council of the city a detailed report of all moneys received by it and from 
what sources and the manner in which it shall have expended such moneys and 
the amount provided for and appropriated to school purposes from any source 
during the last fiscal year of the said board of education; and such report shall 
be published by the common council in connection with, and as a part of the 
annual report of the financial transactions of the city, which they are required 
by law to have printed and circulated. Said board of education shall also make 
report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and such reports 
shall be made in the manner and at such times as he may direct. 

§ 252 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State 
moneys. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 
this State to apportion for the use of the said board of education of the city of 
Oneida such portions of the school, school library, and other public moneys as it 
shall be entitled to by its annual report, in the same manner in which such 
moneys are apportioned to cities, and the amounts to which it shall be so entitled 
shall be certified to the county treasurer of Madison county. The said county 
treasurer of Madison county shall pay over to the city chamberlain of the city of 
Oneida, for the use of the board of education of said city, such proportion of the 
school, school library and other pubhc moneys as may be apportioned by law or 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State to the board of education 
of the city of Oneida for teachers' wages, school library and other school purposes. 

§ 253 Common council shall pass ordinances for the protection of school 
property. The common council of the city of Oneida shall have the power and 
it shall be its duty to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of education 
of said city shall report necessary for protection, safekeeping, care and preserva- 
tion of the school buildings and other school property of said district, and to 
impose such penahies for the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. 

§ 254 Charges of misconduct or neglect of any member of board of educa- 
tion. Charges of misconduct or violation or neglect of duty on the part of any 
member of the board of education may be presented to said board by any member 
thereof, or by any elector of the city of Oneida, and such charges shall be duly 
examined by said board at a regular or special meeting of which the accused 
member shall have at least five days' notice, but at which meetmg said accused 
members shall not be entitled to vote. If at such meeting, after hearing the 
evidence on both sides, said board shall deem the charges against the member 
sustained, then all the papers and documents in the case, with a transcript of the 



306 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

meeting, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the board of education to the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State, and upon his approval of the 
findings of the board the accused member shall be removed and his place declared 
vacant. 

§ 255 Report of superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools 
of the city of Oneida shall confer with, and act under the direction of the 
board of education of said city in the performance of his duties. He shall, subject 
to the direction of said board, have general control and supervision of the public 
schools in said city and of the teachers employed therein, and shall on or before 
the 1st day of July in each year, or at such other time or times as shall be required 
by said board, report in writing to the board of education on the following 
subjects: 

1 The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of edu- 
cation, their cleanliness and their sanitary condition. 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for each of said schools. 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, their grade of work 
and their efficiency, with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the number 
thereof. 

5 The number of pupils registered at each school, the average daily attendance 
and also the number of pupils enrolled in each grade in the several schools. 

6 Such changes in the organization and curriculum of any or all of the schools 
as he may deem advisable. 

7 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the city of Oneida. 

§ 256 District a union free school district. The said district shall be deemed 
and is hereby declared to be a union free school district under the laws of this 
State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent with 
the provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond 
with any incorporated city, and the board of education therein, and the corporate 
authority of such cities are made applicable to the school district hereby estab- 
lished, and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of 
the city of Oneida. 

§ 19 Suspensions and removals of appointive city officer. The mayor, 
common council and each city board or officer, having appointive powers, may 
remove any city officer appointed by him or it, for dishonesty, incapacity, neglect 
of duty, or other irregularities, giving such officers reasonable notice thereof and 
a reasonable opportunity to be heard, and such officer may be suspended pending 
such investigations. 

Subdivision 7 of section 44, which defines the duty of the common council in 
relation to the annual tax levy, provides as follows : 

7 A sum necessary for the purposes and use of the board of education, includ- 
ing the payment of principal and interest upon the bonds heretofore or hereafter 



EDUCATION CODE 307 

issued for school purposes, falling due during the fiscal year for which tax is 
levied, to be designated as the school fund. 

Section 10 provides for five members of the board of education and for a super- 
intendent of schools. Section 11 provides that a member of the board of edu- 
cation shall be a resident elector and taxpayer of the city. Section 13 provides 
that there shall be five members of the board of education, that the 
superintendent of schools and the members of the board of education shall 
be appointive officers and that the term of office of such superintendent shall 
be three years and of each member of the board of education five years. Section 
15 provides that the term of office of all officers appointed by the mayor shall 
begin on the ist of February in the year in which the appointment is required to 
be made. This section also provides that the term of office of the superintendent 
of schools shall begin on the ist day of August in the year in which the appoint- 
ment is required to be made. Section 20 provides that if a vacancy occurs in 
an appointive office it shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term by the 
same authority and in the same manner as an appointment for a full term. Under 
section 30 each officer of the city is required to take and file an official oath in 
accordance with the provisions of the constitution and the public officers law. 



ONEONTA 

Chapter 454, Laws of 1908 
An act to incorporate the city of Oneonta 

TITLE IX 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 150 City, permanent school district 

151 Board of education 

152 District board continued a city board ; succession to property and obligations 

153 Superintendent of schools 

154 General powers and duties of the president 

155 Clerk and his general duties 

156 General powers of the board of education 

157 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools 

158 Payment of funds to chamberlain 

159 Powers of board of education to purchase sites or additions to any site or 

erect or enlarge any school building 

160 Annual report of board of education 

161 The Commissioner of Education to apportion State moneys 

162 Common council shall pass ordinance for protection of school property 

163 Filling vacancies 

164 Report of superintendent of schools 

165 District a union free school district 

166 School district adjoining city limits 

Section 150 City, permanent school district. The said city shall form a 
permanent school district and shall not be subject to alteration by the district 
school commissioner of common schools. Such district shall be entitled to all the 
rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred upon school 
districts by law or other State authority, and shall, except as otherwise provided 
in this act, be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers of inspection and super- 
intendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts in cities. 

§ 151 Board of education. The affairs of said school district of the city of 
Oneonta shall be managed by a board of six members, to be appointed in the man- 
ner provided in this act, which board shall be known and designated as the " board 
of education of the city of Oneonta." Said board and its successors shall possess 
all the powers conferred, and discharge all the duties imposed by this act, or by 
any general law of this State relating to school districts in cities or relating to 
boards of education of such districts, and not inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act. 

§ 152 District board continued as city board; succession to property and 
obligations. The present members of the board of education of union free 
school district number 5 of the town of Oneonta, New York, shall constitute the 
board of education of said city and shall be members of such board until their 

l3o8[ 



EDUCATION CODE 3O9 

successors are appointed and qualified as provided in this act. The title to all 
real and personal property now belonging to said union free school district and 
the title to all other school property, either real or personal, that shall be located 
within the limits of said city is hereby vested in the board of education of the 
city of Oneonta, and all moneys and funds belonging to school districts numbers 
five and eleven shall be paid over and delivered to the chamberlain of said city 
and credited by him to the school fund of said city. All the rights, powers, privi- 
leges, contracts, obHgations and liabilities of said school districts are hereby trans- 
ferred to, vested in and imposed upon said board of education of the city of 
Oneonta as hereby created ; and the rights and privileges of all persons that may 
have arisen or accrued prior to the passage of this act shall remain and be en- 
forced by or against the board of education of the city of Oneonta, and its suc- 
cessors, in the same manner and with like effect as the same might have been en- 
forced by or against the board of education of said school districts, if this act had 
not been passed; subject, however, to the provisions of this act. 

§ 153 Superintendent of schools. The said board of education shall annually 
appoint a superintendent of schools for the term of one year ; such superintend- 
ent shall be under the direction of said board of education, which shall prescribe 
his powers and duties ; he shall be paid from the teachers' fund a salary, to be 
fixed by .the board of education. Whenever such superintendent shall be ap- 
pointed, the said school district shall be entitled to the benefits of section 5 of title 
2 of article i of chapter 556 of the Laws of 1894. 

§ 154 General powers and duties of president. The president of the board 
of education shall preside over meetings of the board when present, and perform 
such executive acts and duties as is required by this act and general laws, and such 
other lawful business as shall be given him or her in charge by said board. 

§ 155 Clerk and his general duties. The superintendent of schools shall be 
clerk of the board of education and shall act as secretary and keep the minutes of 
the said board, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by this 
act and the general school laws of the State and such other duties as the board 
may prescribe. 

§ 156 General powders of the board of education. Subject to the provisions 
of this act and of the general consolidated school laws, the board of education of 
the city of Oneonta shall have power and it shall be its duty : 

1 To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools as said 
board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the same 
at its discretion. 

2 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as it may 
deem advisable. 

3 To purchase, sell or exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages and to defray the necessary expenses attending the 
same. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages and to see that the ordinances and by-laws of 
said city in regard thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 



3IO THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

5 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers for the schools of the 
city under such conditions, rules and regulations as may be established by the 
board, provided that such rules and regulations are in accord with the general 
school laws of the State and the rules and regulations estabhshed by the Depart- 
ment of Public Instruction of the State. 

6 To pay the salaries of superintendent of schools and teachers out of any 
moneys appropriated or provided by law for that purpose. 

7 To defray the necessary expenses of the board and district, including the 
wages of janitors and other assistants and employees and incidental expenses. 

8 To expend all moneys, raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, erect- 
ing or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such a manner as may be 
deemed advisable but only for the purposes for which the same was raised. 

9 To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools of said 
city, all teachers employed in the schools of the city, in the same manner and with 
like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties, and to fix the grade 
of state license of teachers that shall be accepted as the minimum requirement for 
teachers in said city. 

10 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor and in the same manner 
and under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon 
the board of public works for opening of streets and highways. 

11 To have to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Commissioner 
of Education and the Regents of the University of this State, the entire super- 
vision and management of the schools of said city; from time to time, to adopt, 
alter, modify or repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and regulations for its 
organization, government, and instruction for the reception of pupils and their 
transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse to another; for their advancement 
from class to class as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, and generally to 
promote the good order, efficiency and prosperity of all the schools of the city. 

12 To allow the children or persons nonresident within the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of the said board upon such terms as said 
board may by resolution prescribe. 

13 To establish and maintain a city school library and provide suitable rooms 
for the use of the same ; to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of 
the moneys provided by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the 
inhabitants of school districts. 

14 Other than as provided by this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

15 Other than as provided in this act to exercise all the powers conferred and 
all the duties imposed by the general laws of the State applicable to boards of 
education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a transcript 
thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all courts or places 
as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 



EDUCATION CODE 3IT 

§ 157 Powers of board of education to raise tax for support of schools. On 

or before the 15th day of July in each year, the said board of education shall pre- 
pare a statement of such sums of money as it shall deem necessary during the 
fiscal year, which for school and library purposes only shall commence with the 
1st day of August next ensuing, for each of the following purposes: 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school, and the payment of the teachers 
thereof after applying such of the public school and other moneys as may be appli- 
cable thereto. 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds, with the appendages 
and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

5 For the purchase of fuel, water, telephone service and lights, to pay contin- 
gent expenses of the district, including salaries of janitors, assistants, employees 
and incidental expenses. 

6 For the purpose of paying the interest or principal upon any or all school 
bonds that may have heretofore been issued by said school districts or either of 
them, or that may hereafter be issued for school purposes by the common council, 
and also to pay such other lawful indebtedness as may be incurred for school pur- 
poses. Before the meeting of the board of education at which the aforesaid state- 
ment is prepared, the said board of education shall give to the mayor official 
noiice thereof and the mayor shall attend said meeting and be accorded the right 
of inquiry into all the items of said statement and all the privileges in said meet- 
ing of the members of said board, except the privilege of voting. Whenever the 
board of education shall finally have determined on the statement of expenses 
itemized as heretofore indicated, it shall present the same to the mayor or acting 
mayor of the city of Oneonta. If the mayor or acting mayor approves such state- 
ment he shall sign it, and immediately file the same with the city clerk ; if he does 
not approve any item therein he shall within five days return the statement with 
his objections indorsed thereon or annexed thereto to the president of the board 
of education. Said board shall then proceed to reconsider such statement, and if 
two-thirds of the members then in office agree to sustain the statement as made, 
it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall be immediately 
filed with the city clerk. If two-thirds of the members of said board do not agree 
to sustain the statement as made, it shall be modified so as to conform to the views 
expressed by the mayor in his objection and he shall then sign it and file it with 
the city clerk. But if he does not approve any item thereof he shall, within 
twenty-four hours, return the same with his objections as before. The board of 
education shall continue to present statements as aforesaid until the mayor's ap- 
proval is obtained or until two-thirds of the members of said board agree to pass 
the same over his objections, and said statement when thus approved or passed 
.hall be filed with the city clerk. If the mayor or acting mayor fails to sign a 



312 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Statement of moneys required as herein provided or fails to return, within five 
days after its submission, said statement with his objections thereto, to the board 
of education said statement shall be filed with the city clerk in the same manner 
as if it had been approved. When such statement is filed with the city clerk, the 
common council of said city shall then levy as an annual school tax for that year 
the amount specified in said statement and the same shall be collected by the city 
chamberlain under the same terms as other taxes, who shall credit the same to 
the general school fund of the board of education. 

§ 158 Payment of funds to chamberlain. All public moneys or public funds 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said school district number 5 of the town 
of Oneonta shall be paid to the chamberlain of the said city, who shall keep the 
same separate from the general funds of the city and shall credit to the school 
funds the moneys or property belonging thereto. The board of education shall 
disburse all the school funds of said district by orders upon the chamberlain 
signed by the president; said orders shall be numbered consecutively and shall 
specify the purpose for which they are drawn and the persons to whom payable. 
Upon request from said board, the chamberlain shall certify, from time to time, 
the balance remaining to be collected by or paid to the city chamberlain for school 
purposes ; it shall not be lawful for the city chamberlain to apply such moneys or 
any part thereof to any other purpose or object. 

§ 159 Powers of board of education to purchase sites, or addition to any 
site or erect or enlarge any school building. Whenever the board of education 
shall resolve by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its members that it is neces- 
sary to purchase a site or addition to any site, or erect any school building or 
enlarge any school building already erected, it shall specify in such resolution the 
ward within which such site is to be purchased or building erected or enlarged and 
the particular sum required for each separately. The board of education shall 
then deliver a certified copy of such resolution to the mayor who shall, within 
thirty days after the receipt of said resolution, call a special election of the elect- 
ors of said city, to vote for or against such appropriations as the proposed expen- 
ditures will impose. Said election shall be conducted and the result declared and 
certified pursuant to the provisions and manner prescribed for conducting special 
elections provided elsewhere in this act. In case a majority of the votes cast be 
in favor of any said appropriations, the common council shall borrow, upon the 
faith and credit of said city, the aggregate of the items having such majority, or 
any part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be provided for ac- 
cording to law. The common council shall issue bonds or other evidence of 
indebtedness in such forms as it may prescribe at an annual rate of interest not 
exceeding four and one-half (4><) per centum, and payable at such times and 
in such amounts as the common council shall determine. Said bonds or any part 
thereof may be sold by the common council in such manner as it may deem best, 
but at not less than the par value thereof. The board of education, after com- 
pleting the work or other objects for which said money may have been raised, 



EDUCATION CODE 313 

may apply any unexpended balance that may remain to any object authorized or 
contemplated by this act. 

, § 160 Annual report of board of education. It shall be the duty of the board 
of education, on or before the ist day of August in each year, to make to the 
common council of the city a detailed report of the manner in which it shall have 
expended the money provided for and appropriated to school purposes from any 
source during the last fiscal year of the said board of education ; and such report 
shall be published by the common council in connection with, and as a part of, 
the annual report of the financial transactions of the city, which they are required 
by law to have printed and circulated. Said board of education shall also make 
report to the Commissioner of Education of the State, and such reports shall be 
made in the manner and at such times as he may direct. 

§ 161 State Commissioner of Education to apportion State moneys. It 
shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Education of this State to apportion, 
for the use of the said board of education of the city of Oneonta, such portions 
of the school, school library and other public money, as it shall be entitled to by 
its annual report, in the same manner in which such moneys are apportioned to 
cities, and the amounts to which it shall be so entitled shall be certified to the 
county treasurer of Otsego county. The said county treasurer of Otsego county 
shall pay over to the city chamberlain of the city of Oneonta, for the use of said 
board of education of said city, such proportion of the school, school library and 
other public money as may be apportioned by law or by the Commissioner of Edu- 
cation of the State to the board of education of the city of Oneonta for teachers' 
wages, school library and other school purposes. 

§ 162 Common council shall pass ordinances for protection of school 
property. The common council of the city of Oneonta shall have the power, 
and it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the board of edu- 
cation of said city shall report necessary for protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of the school buildings and other school property of said district, 
and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. 

§ 163 Filling vacancies. All vacancies in the board of education, occasioned 
by the resignation, refusal to serve, death or removal of any of its members, shall 
be filled for the unexpired term by appointment by the mayor. 

§ 164 Report of superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools 
of the city of Oneonta shall confer with and act under the direction of the board 
of education of said city, in the performance of his duties. He shall, subject to 
the direction of said board, have entire control and supervision of the public 
schools in said city and of the teachers employed therein and shall on or before 
the ist day of July in each year, or at such other time or times, as shall be re- 
quired by said board, report in writing to the board of education on the follow- 
ing subjects : 

I The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the board of educa- 
tion, their cleanliness and their sanitary condition. 



314 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for each of said schools. 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, their grade of 
work, and their efficiency, with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the 
number thereof. 

5 The number of pupils registered at each school, the average daily attendance 
and also the number of pupils enrolled in each grade in the several schools. 

6 Such changes in the organization and curriculum of any or all of the schools 
as he may deem advisable. 

7 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the people of Oneonta. 

§ 165 District a union free school. The territory within the limits of the 
city of Oneonta shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be a union free school 
district under the laws of this State relating to public instruction. All provisions 
of law. not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, applicable to school 
districts whose limits correspond with any incorporated city, and the board of 
education therein, and the corporate authority of such cities are made applicable 
to the school district hereby established, and to the board of education thereof, 
and to the corporate authorities of the city of Oneonta. 

§ 166 School districts adjoining city limits. The remaining portion of said 
common school district number 11, part of which is by this act included within 
the limits of the city of Oneonta, shall remain a common school district and 
shall be designated by the same number as heretofore, and shall be entitled to 
the public moneys, including the district quota, and shall have and enjoy all the 
rights and privileges and shall be subject to the liabilities pertaining to common 
school districts. The board of trustees, or, if there shall be but one trustee, 
the sole trustee of said district may contract with the board of education of 
the city of Oneonta to furnish tuition and other school advantages to the school 
children of said district in the schools of said city. Said tuition and school ad- 
vantages shall be provided for a sum which shall not be less than the public 
school moneys received by said district, and said sum shall not be so great as 
to require a larger ratio of taxation in said common school district than is re- 
quired in said city for school purposes. 



OSWEGO 

Chapter 394, Laws of 1895 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Oswego 

ARTICLE VTI 

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Section 156 On or before the ist day of May, 1899, the mayor of the city 
of Oswego shall make and file with the city clerk his appointment in writing, 
of four persons, residents of the said city, who shall be commissioners of free 
common schools of the city of Oswego, as hereinafter set forth, and who shall 
constitute the department of education of the said city. The terms of office of 
the said commissioners shall be six years, except as hereinafter modified. The 
terms of office of said commissioners shall begin upon said ist day of May, 
1899, and shall end upon the 31st day of December, 1905. Their successors 
shall be appointed by the then mayor in office on the ist day of January, next 
succeeding the 31st day of December, 1905, and the term of each and all suc- 
ceeding commissioners shall be six years, from the ist day of January, in the 
year of their said appointment. In case of the death, resignation or removal 
of any commissioner during his term of office, the mayor then in office shall, 
within ten days thereafter, appoint a successor to such commissioner for the re- 
mainder of the unexpired term of the outgoing commissioner. Every commis- 
sioner of free common schools of the city of Oswego under this act shall con- 
tinue in office after the expiration of his term of office as herein designated, until 
his successor is duly appointed and has qualified. The office of commissioner of 
common schools of the city of Oswego is hereby abolished, to take effect on the 
30th day of April, 1899. The commissioners of free common schools shall 
serve without compensation. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 157 A majority of the commissioners of free common schools, formmg the 
department of education shall constitute a quorum. At the first meeting of said 
department, which shall be held within ten days of their appointment, and an- 
nually thereafter in January, at their annual meeting, they shall elect one of 
their number president of the department, and whenever he shall be absent a 
president pro tempore may be appointed. {As amended by L. 1899, ch. 304.) 

§ 158 The annual meeting of said department shall be held on the second 
secular day of January in each year. The department shall also meet for the 
transaction of business as often as once a month and may adjourn for any 
shorter time. Special meetings may be called as often as necessary by the presi- 
dent with the written concurrence of two members of the department, or, in 
his absence or inability to act, with the like concurrence of any three members 
of the department, by causing a written or printed notice of such meeting, signed 

I315] 



3l6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

with the names of the members calling the same, to be given personally to each 
member of the department, or left at his last place of residence, at least twenty- 
four hours before the hour for such special meeting. Such notice shall specify 
the object of such special meeting, the action of which shall be limited to the 
object so specified. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 159 Any woman who is a resident taxpayer of the city of Oswego and as- 
sessed upon the last preceding general assessment rolls thereof for real or per- 
sonal property to the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars, or is the wife 
of a man who is a resident of said city and who is assessed upon said rolls for a 
like sum is eligible to appointment as a commissioner of free common schools 
of said city. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 160 The commissioners of free common schools shall have the power and 
it shall be their duty to elect a superintendent of free common schools of the 
city of Oswego, who shall be ex officio, the secretary of the department of edu- 
cation of said city. The term of office of such superintendent shall be four 
years, and his salary shall be eighteen hundred dollars per annum, payable 
monthly out of any moneys or funds belonging to said department, legally ap- 
plicable thereto. The first election of such superintendent of free common schools 
of the city of Oswego shall be had within thirty days after July i, 1900, and 
within thirty days after the ist day of July, every four years thereafter, and 
his term of office shall commence on the first day of the month next succeeding 
his election, and shall continue for the term of four years, from the ist day of 
July in the year of his appointment and until his successor has 
been elected and has qualified. In case of a vacancy in the office of super- 
intendent of free common schools of the city of Oswego, a successor shall 
be elected in the same manner for the unexpired term, which election shall 
be had within one month after such vacancy shall have occurred. In case of a 
vacancy in the office of superintendent of free common schools of the city of 
Oswego before July i, 1900, the department of education shall fill the vacancy 
so occurring by the election of a superintendent of free common schools for 
said city for the term ending July i, 1900, and the superintendent so elected 
shall hold said office until his successor is duly elected and qualified. Before 
any such election of any superintendent shall take effect for any purpose, a cer- 
tificate in writing of such election, signed by a majority of the commissioners of 
free common schools of the city of Oswego, then legally in office, shall be made 
and filed in the office of the clerk of the city of Oswego, and such superintendent 
elect shall duly take and sign the constitutional oath of office and file the same with 
said city clerk of Oswego city. If in any year when a superintendent of free 
common schools is to be elected, as aforesaid, or a vacancy for any cause in 
said office is to be filled, the said department shall fail, neglect or refuse to so 
elect a superintendent for the period of six weeks after the term within which 
such election is required to be had, such failure, neglect or refusal to elect such 
superintendent shall be certified by the department or the mayor of the city 
of Oswego, to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, who shall there- 



EDUCATION CODE 317 

Upon give notice in writing to the members of said department of the time and 
place of a meeting of said department, to be held in the city of Oswego, at which 
he will attend, and which meeting it shall be the duty of said commissioners to 
attend. If at said meeting, so called by said State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, said department still fail, neglect or refuse to elect a superintendent 
of schools for said city, then, in that case, said State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction may cast a ballot for said superintendent of schools in said city, and 
if a choice is not thereby secured by three votes for the same candidate, then 
the State Superintendent of Public Instruction may, by a written appointment, 
signed by him as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, designate and ap- 
point a superintendent of schools for said city, with the same force and effect 
as if said appointee had been duly elected by said department. Such written ap- 
pointment shall be filed with the city clerk of the city of Oswego. (As amended 
by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 161 No person elected superintendent of free common schools of the city 
of Oswego shall be removed from his office except for cause, upon written 
charges and specifications thereof, served upon him, and after due trial before 
the said department of education, and conviction. On such trial counsel shall 
be allowed such superintendent without expense to the city of Oswego, and the 
city attorney shall attend and act for the said department, if desired. It shall 
be necessary that three in number of the commissioners of free common schools 
of the city of Oswego, then duly and legally in office, shall concur in voting for 
the removal of said superintendent before removal can be had, and after such 
trial and conviction. {As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 162 No person shall be eligible for election to or to hold the office of super- 
intendent of free common schools of the city of Oswego unless he or she shall 
have had five years' actual experience as a teacher, either in the free common 
schools of the State of New York, or elsewhere in free common schools of equal 
grade and requirements, or has acted as superintendent or principal of such 
schools, or taught for a Hke period in a college, all of such service having been 
within the past fifteen years ; each year of acting as such superintendent or prm- 
cipal, or of teaching in any college to count as one year of actual teaching. Nor 
shall any person be eligible for election to or to hold the office of superintendent 
of free common schools of the city of Oswego unless he or she be of mature 
age, good mental and bodily health and of unblemished character and reputation. 
(As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 163 The duties and powers of such superintendent of free common schools 
of the city of Oswego shall be as follows : 

1 He shall keep full and regular books of account of all business and financial 
transactions of the said department and an accurate account of each separate 
fund of said department, subject to warrants, showing the condition of the same 
the amount of warrants drawn against it and the unexpended balance, at all 

times. , J. r 

2 He shall keep a full record and report of all meetings and proceedings of 



3'l8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

said department, and shall be present at all meetings and act as secretary of said 
department, and shall perform such other and further duties as secretary of the 
department of education, as may be required of him by said department of edu- 
cation, or required by the provisions of this act, or of the Consolidated School 
Law of the State of New York. All records of said department, or a transcript 
thereof, duly certified by said secretary, shall be received in all courts of the 
State of New York, as prima facie evidence of all the facts and matters and 
things therein set forth ; and such records and all books, accounts, vouchers and 
papers of said department shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the 
mayor or common council, or a committee thereof. 

3 The said superintendent shall have exclusive control of all the teachers em- 
ployed in the free common schools of the city of Oswego, and shall have exclu- 
sive power and authority to select, nominate, dismiss, transfer, discharge, sus- 
pend, fine, grade, regrade and control all of said teachers, and, in his discretion, 
do any and all such other matters and things in and about the force and per- 
sonnel of the teachers in the free common schools of the city of Oswego as, in 
his judgment, will tend to improve the efficiency of the said free common schools 
and the teachers employed therein, and as will be to the benefit and welfare of 
the scholars in attendance at such schools. It shall be the duty of the said su- 
perintendent, however, in so far as is practicable, in his selection and nomination 
of teachers, to select and nominate the same solely with regard to and upon indi- 
vidual merit, and all other things being equal, to give preference in such selection 
and nomination to citizens of the city of Oswego. Only such number of teachers 
as may be fixed and determined by the department shall be legally selected or 
nominated by said superintendent. The persons holding either of the positions 
of teacher, janitor, truant officer, superintendent of schools and secretary of the 
department of education, employed by the department of education, or in either 
of said offices or employments when this act takes effect shall continue in such 
office or employment under this act and subject to its provisions, until legally 
removed therefrom and their successor or successors duly appointed or elected 
and qualified. 

4 Only such teachers as are qualified under the rules and regulations pre- 
scribed by and contained in the Consolidated School Law of the State of New 
York, or prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of said State, 
for governing the examination and licensing and qualification of teachers, shall 
hereafter be eligible to selection, nomination and employment in the free com- 
mon schools of the city of Oswego, provided, however, that any teacher now 
employed in the public schools of said city shall be eligible for such appointment 
and employment, and the superintendent shall prepare and at all times keep a 
list of all persons so as above eligible to selection, nomination and employment 
as teachers, who have applied to him for selection, nomination and employment, 
and selection and nomination shall be made by him from the names upon said 
list. And the person or persons so selected and nominated shall forthwith be by 
said department of education employed as a teacher or teachers in the free com* 



EDUCATION CODE 319 

men schools of the city of Oswego. Should said department of education fail 
neglect or refuse to employ the teacher or teachers so selected and nominated by 
said superintendent, for the space of ten days after said selection and nomination 
shall be filed with the department of education in writing, then and in that event, 
and on the expiration of said period of ten days such written selection and 
nomination shall in all things and to all intents and purposes be equivalent to the 
employment by the department of education of such teacher or teachers so se- 
lected and nominated. 

5 All selections and nominations to and for employment so as aforesaid, here- 
after made by said superintendent to the department of education, and employ- 
ment thereunder, shall in the first instance be made for the term of not exceed- 
ing one year, and if at the end of such term it is found by the said superintendent 
that the teacher or teachers thus nominated, selected or employed, has answered 
all requirements necessary to an efficient and capable teacher, to his satisfac- 
tion, then said superintendent may reselect and renominate said teacher or teach- 
ers for employment by the department of education to serve during the pleasure 
of said superintendent. 

6 The present system of text or school books, now in use in the free common 
schools of the city of Oswego, shall not be changed or new text or school books 
introduced, except upon the recommendation and consent of the superintendent 
of free common schools of said city. The curriculum of studies to be pursued in 
said free common schools of said city shall be fixed and may be changed by the 
said department of public instruction, only upon recommendation and consent 
of the said superintendent of free common schools of said city. (As amended 
by L. i8pg, ch. 304.) 

§ 164 The books of the common school library of the city, now deposited and 
kept in the building of the Oswego City Library, in said city, may remain there 
at the pleasure of said department of education and subject to its control. Said 
department may designate the librarian of the said Oswego City Library to have 
the custody and care- of the said common school library, and may limit and pre- 
scribe his powers and duties with respect thereto and provide for his compensa- 
tion. {As amended by L. i8gp, ch. 304.) 

§ 165 The common council of the city shall have power, and it shall be their 
duty, subject to the limitations contained in the next section, to raise from time 
to time by tax, such sums as may be determined and certified by the said de- 
partment of education to be necessary and proper for any or all of the following 
purposes : 

1 To purchase, lease or improve sites for schoolhouses. 

2 To build, rebuild, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair school- 
houses, and their outhouses and appurtenances. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture or fixtures and appendages ; but the power herein granted shall not be deemed 
to authorize the furnishing class or textbooks to any scholar or child whose 
parents or guardians are able to furnish the same. 



320 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

4 To procure fuel, and defray the expenses of the free common schools of 
Oswego city, and the expenses of the school library of the said city, and all 
other necessary contingent expenses of said department, including the salary 
of the superintendent and secretary of said department. 

5 To pay the wages of teachers legally selected, nominated, appointed and em- 
ployed under the provisions of this act, after the application of public moneys, 
which may by law be appropriated and provided for that purpose. The amount 
to be raised for the foregoing purposes in each year, except in the years 1899 and 
1900, as hereinafter provided, shall not be less than twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars, nor more than forty-five thousand dollars, which amount shall be levied 
and collected by the common council at the same time and in the same manner 
as the other general taxes of this city are levied and collected, and when col- 
lected shall be known as the school fund. The warrant issued to the city cham- 
berlain by the mayor for the collection of such taxes shall specify what pro- 
portion of such taxes are for general city purposes and what proportion are 
for the support of the schools of said city ; and the city chamberlain shall desig- 
nate the part thereof collected for the support of said schools, and shall credit 
the same to the department of education as a part of the public school fund of 
the said city, as hereinafter provided. The common council are authorized and 
directed to borrow from time to time in anticipation of the collection of the 
moneys hereby authorized to be raised or of the receipt of the State moneys, 
such amount as shall be certified to them by the resolution of the department of 
education to be necessary for the use of said schools, subject to the provisions 
and limitations of this act. The interest or discount paid in effecting such loan 
shall be paid by the department as one of the contingent expenses of said 
schools. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. S04; L. 190^, ch. 249.) 

§ 166 The department of education is expressly prohibited from purchasing 
or contracting for, or paying for any work, labor, services, materials or sup- 
plies (excepting only the employment of teachers and janitors and the election 
of a superintendent of schools of a truant officer by the department) except as 
herein specifically set forth. Whenever any materials, supplies, work, labor or 
services are required for the use or benefit of the free common schools of the 
city, a detailed statement of such requirement or requirements shall first be pre- 
sented to the department of education at a regular or special meeting thereof, 
signed by the secretary of said department or by the committee or member of 
said department having knowledge of such requirement or requirements. If, 
in the opinion of the said department, as evidenced by its vote at such meeting, 
the said work, labor, materials, services or supplies are necessary and proper to 
be had for the benefit of said department, then and in that case a copy of the 
said detailed statement of work, labor, services, supplies or materials shall there- 
upon be made and given by the secretary of said department to at least three 
responsible persons, qualified to bid upon the same, and to as many more respon- 
sible and qualified persons as shall request a copy thereof, requesting written bids 
upon such labor, services, supplies, work or materials as shall be set forth in said 



EDUCATION CODE 3^^ 

statement. And if such work, labor, services, materials or supplies will exceed 
in value the amount of fifty dollars, then a brief notice requesting bids upon the 
same, to be set forth more fully in specifications, to be had upon application to 
the secretary of said department, shall be published by said secretary for three 
days in each of the two official papers of the city of Oswego. The lowest respon- 
sible bid or bids for any such work, labor, services, materials or suppHes shall 
be accepted by the department of education at a regular or special meeting, and 
a contract or contracts thereunder be executed or written orders therefor be given 
by direction of the department of which contract or order copies shall be kept in 
the office of the department ; except that the said department shall have the right 
to reject any and all bids, and ask for other bids therefor. All betterments and 
repairs to schoolhouses, outhouses, fixtures or furniture, and all new building, fix- 
tures or furniture shall be had and done under the provisions of this section. 
(As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 167 The department of education shall annually, on or before the ist day of 
May, submit to the common council an itemized estimate and requisition of and 
for the several amounts required by it for the various matters, funds and pur- 
poses, as in this act provided, for the maintenance of the free public schools of 
said city, and if the sum granted by the said common council pursuant to said 
estimate and requisition shall be an entire and gross sum, the department of edu- 
cation shall forthwith apportion such entire or gross sum among and to the vari- 
ous funds, matters and purposes mentioned in said estimate and requisition, and 
the said superintendent shall forthwith enter upon the financial books of said 
department such sums so apportioned to the credit of the particular fund, matter 
or purpose in whose favor such gross sum was so apportioned. The same 
course and method of procedure shall obtain and be pursued by the said depart- 
ment of education and by said superintendent, touching any other gross sum 
(except public moneys, which may by law be appropriated and provided for the 
payment of teachers' wages) received by said department from any source; 
Should the common council apportion the sum or sums it may grant upon the 
said estimate and requisition of the said department of education, then the sum or 
sums so and as apportioned and granted by said common council, shall forthwith 
be credited by the said superintendent to the various funds to which the same are 
or shall have been so apportioned and granted by the said common council; 
Whenever said apportionment shall have been made, whether by the common 
council or by the department of education, the person, party or body making such 
apportionment, shall without unnecessary delay notify the city chamberlain of the 
city of Oswego of such apportionment, by a writing, stating the fact of such 
apportionment, the items of the same, the several amounts apportioned to each 
item or fund, and thereupon the said city chamberlain shall, upon proper books 
contained in his office, open an account with each several item or fund mentioned 
or contained in said notice so served upon him. Orders may be drawn on account 
of said items or funds by the department of education upon the city chamberlain, 
and each order so drawn shall specify distinctly upon the face thereof for what 
II 



322 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

purposes and against what particular fund or item the same is drawn; and the 
said department of education is expressly forbidden to overdraw or attempt to 
overdraw either or any of said several items or funds, and the said city chamber- 
lain is expressly forbidden to pay any order so drawn by said department of edu- 
cation which overdraws in whole or in part the item or fund against which the 
same is drawn; nor shall any moneys be diverted from one item or fund to 
another item or fund after the apportionment above referred to has been made, 
by either the department of education or the city chamberlain, upon any pretext 
whatever. Any violation of the provisions of this section by the said department 
of education or any member thereof, or by the said city chamberlain, is a misde- 
meanor and punishable as such. Public moneys that may be received by the de- 
partment of education, and which by law may be or have been appropriated and 
provided for the payment of teachers' wages, or for any other purpose, shall be 
deposited with the said city chamberlain by the department of education to the 
credit of the fund for teachers' wages, or to the credit of the particular purpose 
for which the said moneys were appropriated, and can only be drawn on by said 
department for the payment of teachers' wages, or for such other purpose as said 
funds have been specially deposited for, and such orders paid by the city cham- 
berlain for the like purpose. It shall be a misdemeanor and punishable as such 
to overdraw, or for any member of the department of education to vote to over- 
draw, or to vote in such a manner as to overdraw, or to contribute to an overdraft 
of any of the said funds, credits, items or matters of said department. The com- 
missioner or commissioners voting for such overdraft or whose vote or votes con- 
tribute directly or indirectly to affect such overdraft shall jointly and severally be 
liable to an action in favor of the city of Oswego as plaintiff, to recover the 
amount of any such overdraft or overdrafts, with interest from the day of the 
meeting or session at which said overdraft or overdrafts were voted or occa- 
sioned. And it is hereby made the duty of the city attorney of the city of 
Oswego, upon being notified by the mayor of any violation of this section by any 
commissioner or commissioners, to immediately bring action against said commis- 
sioner or commissioners of free common schools, in the name of the city of 
Oswego as plaintiff, to recover the amount of such overdraft or overdrafts and 
interest upon the same ; and upon the trial of any such action in any court in the 
State of New York, the minutes of said department or a transcript thereof signed 
by the secretary of said department shall be prima facie evidence of all the facts 
and matters and things contained therein ; provided however that the mayor and 
city chamberlain by joint consent thereto in writing may transfer any available 
surplus from one of said funds or credits to another of said funds or credits upon 
request of the department of education by resolution duly passed showing neces- 
sity for such transfer to the satisfaction of the mayor and city chamberlain. (As 
amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 168 The said department shall have power, and it shall be their duty: 

I To organize and establish such and so many schools in said city, including 



EDUCATION CODE 323 

the common schools now existing therein, as they shall deem requisite and expe- 
dient, and to alter or discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolhouses and rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 
and to fence and improve them as they may deem proper. 

3 Upon such lots and sites owned by said city, to build, enlarge, alter, improve 
and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and appurtenances, as they may deem advis- 
able. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indi- 
gent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to provide fuel for the schools and 
defray the contingent expenses of the school library. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, books, 
furniture and appurtenances and to see that the ordinances of the common council 
in relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with and employ all teachers in said schools subject to the selec- 
tion and nomination by the superintendent of schools as hereinbefore provided. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and pro- 
vided by law for the support of common schools in said city, so far as the same 
shall be sufficient, and the residue thereof from the money authorized to be raised 
for that purpose by this act, by tax upon said city. 

8 To defray the necessary and contingent expenses of the department, includ- 
ing the annual salary of the superintendent of the department. 

9 To have in all respects the supervision of the free common schools of the 
city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they may deem 
expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, government and mstruc- 
tion, or the reception of pupils and their transfer from one school to another, 
and generally for their good order, prosperity and utility, subject, however, to 
the powers by this act conferred upon the superintendent of schools of said city. 

10 Whenever, in the opinion of the department of education, it may be advis- 
able to sell any of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property 
now or hereafter belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

1 1 To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regula- 
tions as may be necessary and proper for the protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of schoolhouses, lots and sites and appurtenances, and all the prop- 
erty belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools, and to 
suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and 
annually on or before the ist day of May, in each year, to determine and certify 
to the said common council the sum, in their opinion, necessary or proper to be 
raised for the purposes specified in this title, under the provisions of this act, for 
the fiscal year commencing on the ist day of Januar^^, preceding, specif ymg the 
amount required for each of said purposes separately. 

12 To cause an enumeration of all the children between the ages of 5 and 21 
years residing in said city on the 30th day of June next preceding, to be made 
between July ist and August ist in each year. 

13 Between the ist day of August and the ist day of September in each year, 



324 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

to take and transmit to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a report, in writ- 
ing, bearing date the ist day of August in the year of its transmission, and 
stating : 

1 The number of schoolhouses in said city, and an account and description of 
all common schools kept in said city during the preceding year, and the time they 
have severally been taught, the number of children taught in said schools, respect- 
ively, and the number of children over the age of 5 years and under the age of 
21 years residing in said city on the 30th day of June in each year. 

2 The whole amount of school moneys received by the chamberlain of said city 
during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received by the city cham- 
berlain from the city tax and from any other sources. 

3 The manner in which said sums have been expended, and whether any and 
what part remains unexpended, and for what cause. 

4 The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during 
the year, and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the public 
moneys, with such other information relating to the common schools of said city, 
as may from time to time be required by the State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction. (As amended by L. i8gg, ch. 304.) 

§ 169 All moneys raised by virtue of this act or received from the State or 
from any other source for the use of said schools shall be paid to the city cham- 
berlain of Oswego for the use of said schools, and shall be credited by him to the 
department of education, and shall be known as the public school fund of said 
city, and shall be paid out by him only upon drafts drawn upon him, signed by the 
president and countersigned by the secretary of said department, which drafts 
shall not be drawn except in pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said 
board, and shall be made payable to the person or persons entitled to receive the 
money thereon, and shall express the purpose for which such money is to be paid, 
and no interest shall be paid by said department upon or on account of any drafts 
drawn by said department or by its authority. The secretary shall keep an accu- 
rate account of all drafts so drawn in a book to be kept by him for that purpose, 
and shall report at each monthly meeting of the department the amount of drafts 
drawn from the commencement of the fiscal year to the date of such report. The 
city chamberlain shall also report to the department whenever required by it the 
condition of the public school fund in his hands. (As amended by L. i8pg, ch. 

304.) 

§ 170 It shall be the duty of said department in all its expenditures and con- 
tracts to have reference to the amount of moneys which shall be subject to its 
order during the then current year, and not to exceed that amount. The State 
school moneys appropriated for the use of the schools of said city shall belong 
to the fiscal year in which the same may be received by the city chamberlain. 

a Each school commissioner shall visit all the schools in said city at least twice 
in each year of his official term; and the said department of education shall 
provide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more 
of their number at least once in each term. 



EDUCATION CODE 325 

h The said department of education shall have power to allow the children of 
persons not resident in said city to attend the schools of said city, under the con- 
trol and care of said department upon such terms as said department shall by 
resolution prescribe, fixing the tuition which shall be paid therefor, to be collected 
in such manner as said department shall direct, and immediately paid to the city 
chamberlain for the use of the said department. {As amended by L. i8pg, ch. 
304.) 

§ 171 The said commissioners of free common schools shall be trustees of the 
school libraries in said city, and all the provisions of law which now are or here- 
after may be passed relative to school district libraries shall apply to said com- 
missioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a school district com- 
prehending said city. They shall also be vested with the same discretion as to 
the disposition of the moneys appropriated by the law of this State for the pur- 
chase of libraries which is therein conferred on the inhabitants of school dis- 
tricts. It shall be their duty to provide a room or rooms and the necessary fur- 
niture therefor. The librarians shall report to the department the condition of 
the city library or the libraries under their charge, and the said department or 
superintendent thereof, under the direction a:nd by the resolution of said depart- 
ment, may make all purchases of books for said library or libraries, and may 
direct the mode of their distribution, and may cause to be repaired damaged books 
belonging thereto, and may sell any book in said library or libraries that may be 
deemed useless and apply the proceeds to the purchase of other books for said 
library or libraries. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 172 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and 
appurtenances, and all other school property in this act mentioned, shall be vested 
in the city of Oswego, and the same, while used or appropriated for school pur- 
poses, shall not be levied upon or sold by virtue of any warrant or execution, nor 
be subject to taxation for any purpose whatever; and the said city in its corpo- 
rate capacity, shall be able to take, hold and dispose of any personal or real estate 
transferred to it by grant, gift, bequest or devise, for the use of the free common 
schools of said city, whether the same be transferred in terms to said city by its 
proper style or by any other designation, or to any person or persons or body for 
the use of said schools. {As amended by L. i8qq, ch. 304.) 

§ 173 The common council of said city shall, upon the recommendation of said 
department of education, sell any of the schoolhouses, sites, lots or any of the 
school property now or hereafter belonging to said city, upon such terms as the 
common council shall deem reasonable. The proceeds of all such sales shall be 
paid to the city chamberlain of said city, and shall be by said department ex- 
pended in the purchase, repairs or improvement of schoolhouses, lots, sites or 
school furniture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 174 The common council shall have power and it shall be its duty to pass 
such ordinances and regulations as the said department of education may report 
as necessary for the protection, preservation, safekeeping and care of the school- 



3^6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

houses, lots, sites, appurtenances and appendages, libraries and all necessary prop- 
erty belonging to or connected with the schools of said city, and to impose proper 
penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and limitations con- 
tained in this act; and all such penalties shall be collected in the same manner 
that the penalties for the violation of the city ordinances are by law collected, and 
when collected shall be paid to the city chamberlain of the city, to the credit of 
the said department of education, and shall be subject to their order in the same 
manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 175 No officer of said department of education, or any other person, shall 
have power to make or shall make any purchases, create any liability, or contract 
any debt on the part of said department, unless specifically authorized by the said 
department or by this title so to do, and no account, claim or demand shall be 
audited, allowed or paid by the said department, unless the same was so author- 
ized, nor unless the same shall be verified in the same manner that town accounts 
are required to be verified. The superintendent of the said department shall have 
power to administer any oath or take any affidavit in respect to any matter relat- 
ing to the business of said department or to the affairs of the common council of 
said city. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 

§ 176 The department of education of the city of Oswego shall not purchase 
and shall have no power to purchase lots or sites for schoolhouses, or to build or 
enlarge schoolhouses upon lots or sites now or hereafter owned or acquired by 
said city, unless three-fourths of all the members of said department shall vote 
in favor of such purchases, building or enlargement. (As amended by L. i8pQ, 
ch. 304.) 

§ 177 The department of education is hereby authorized and directed to pay 
all claims and demands duly audited by it only by warrants drawn on the city 
chamberlain against funds in his hands subject to the drafts of such department, 
signed by its president and countersigned by its superintendent; and every war- 
rant so drawn shall be made payable to the order of the person entitled to receive 
the money thereon. In case of the absence, death or inability of the superintend- 
ent of free common schools to countersign any of the above mentioned warrants, 
then said warrants shall be countersigned by a majority of the members of the 
said department. (As amended by L. i8pp, ch. 304.) 



PLATTSBURG 

Chapter 269, Laws of 1902 

An act to incorporate the city of Plattsburg 

TITLE VIII 
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

Section 98 All the territory included within the boundaries of the city of Platts- 
burg shall hereafter constitute a separate school district within this State and shall 
be designated as " the school district of the city of Plattsburg." It may bear such 
other additional designation as the Superintendent of Public Instruction of this 
State may by law prescribe. Such district shall be entitled to all the rights, 
powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by lav^^ or other 
State authority upon school districts and shall be subject to all the rules, regula- 
tions, powers of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable to 
union free school districts, except as otherwise hereinafter provided. 

§ 99 The affairs of said school district of the city of Plattsburg shall be man- 
aged by a board of fifteen members to be constituted as follows : five of such 
board to be elected by the trustees of the Plattsburg Academy and ten to be ap- 
pointed by the mayor of the city of Plattsburg, with the approval of the common 
council, as follows : the present members of the board of education of the pres- 
ent village of Plattsburg are hereby continued in office until the ist day of August 
in each year during which their term of office would have respectively expired. 
The mayor within sixty days after the passage of this act shall appoint five trus- 
tees, to serve as follows : one until the ist day of August, 1902, and one to serve 
respectively for a period of one, two, three and four years from said ist day of 
August. Thereafter the mayor of such city, with the approval of the common 
council, shall annually appoint two trustees to serve for a period of five years. 
The trustees of Plattsburg Academy shall annually appoint one member of such 
board to serve for a period of five years. The said trustees shall meet at the 
common council chamber in said city at eight o'clock in the evening of the third 
Tuesday of May, 1902, and shall organize as a board, and shall provide and ap- 
point a place for its further meetings. Thereafter, said board of education shall 
hold their annual meetings on the second Monday of January of each year, for 
the election of officers. They shall select by ballot from their number, a president, 
vice president and a clerk. They shall also appoint a superintendent of schools 
of the city and perform the duties of supervision and all such other duties as the 
board shall from time to time direct, and shall be allowed such compensation as 
the said board may determine. Pie shall also examine and license, under the stat- 
ute and the rules and regulations established by the State Superintendent of Pub- 
lic Instruction, teachers employed in the public schools in said city. The said 

[327J 



328 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

president, vice president and clerk shall hold their office for one year, and until 
their successors shall have been duly appointed. (As amended by L. ipo^, ch. 
449-) 

§ 100 The city chamberlain shall be the treasurer of said board of education, 
and shall possess all the powers and duties of supervisors of towns, with reference 
to the gospel and school money belonging to the city of Plattsburg, and shall have 
exclusive control of the same. Meetings of said board shall be held at least once 
in each month. At each of said meetings, there shall be appointed one or more 
visiting committees, whose duty it shall be to visit every school in the city at least 
once, and to report upon the condition and work of the schools at the next meet- 
ing of the board. A majority of trustees in office shall constitute a quorum of 
the board. {As amended by L. ipoj, ch. 449.) 

§ loi In case any vacancy shall occur in the office of trustee, by reason of 
death, resignation, removal from the city or refusal to qualify or serve, or from 
any other cause, the mayor in case such vacancy shall arise from those appointed 
by him may, with the approval of the common council make an appointment to 
fill such vacancy, and the person so appointed shall hold office for the unexpired 
term of the person to supply whose place, he shall be appointed; and in case a 
vacancy shall arise in those selected by the trustees of the Plattsburg Academy, 
the remaining members of the board, selected by such academy board, may make 
an appointment to fill such vacancy for the unexpired term of the person to sup- 
ply whose place he shall be appointed. {As amended by L. ipo^, ch. 449.) 

§ 102 All property, both real and personal, now vested in and belonging to the 
schools in any district embraced within the city of Plattsburg, as hereby consti- 
tuted, shall pass to and become vested in the board of education created by this 
act. And all moneys and funds belonging to said district shall be paid over and 
delivered to the chamberlain of said city and credited by him to the school fund 
of said city. All the rights, powers, privileges, contracts, obligations and liabil- 
ities of said union free school district are hereby transferred to, vested in and 
imposed upon said board of education of the city of Plattsburg, as hereby created. 
And the rights and privileges of all persons that may have arisen or accrued prior 
to the passage of this act shall remain and be in force by or against the board of 
education of the city of Plattsburg and its successors in the same manner and 
with a like effect as though this act had not been passed — subject, however, to 
the provisions of this act. 

§ 103 A trustee duly elected or appointed, who declares that he will not accept 
or serve in the office of trustee, or who refuses or neglects to attend three succes- 
sive stated meetings of the board, without rendering a good and valid excuse there- 
for to the board, vacates his office for refusing to serve. 

§ 104 Neither the mayor nor any member of the common council shall hold the 
office of a member of the board of education under this act. 

§ 105 The district hereby created shall be deemed and is hereby declared to be 
a union free school district under the laws of this State relating to public instruc- 
tion. All provisions of general law, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 



EDUCATION CODE 329 

act, applicable to school districts, whose limits correspond with any incorporated 
village or city, and the boards of education therein and the corporate authority 
of such cities and villages, are made applicable to the school district hereby estab- 
lished, and to the board of education thereof, and to the corporate authorities of 
the city of Plattsburg. 

§ 106 The board of education shall, on or before the 15th day of October in 
each year, make to the mayor and common council of the city of Plattsburg, an 
annual report to the ist day of /\ugust next preceding, setting forth the number 
of children of each school under its charge, a statement of all the liabilities and 
expenses incurred with all the disbursements made by it, during the preceding 
year, and all other matters of interest relating to the schools. The common coun- 
cil shall cause such report to be published in the official newspapers of the city 
of Plattsburg, the expense of such publication to be audited by the board of edu- 
cation and paid out the school fund. (As amended by L. 1904, ch. 319.) 

§ 107 The said board shall also, on or before the 15th day of October, in each 
year, state the amount of money to be raised, which when added to the money 
annually apportioned to the said schools of said city out of the funds belonging 
to the State or any other funds available therefor, will, in its judgment, be neces- 
sary to support all the schools under its superintendence for the ensuing current 
year, and for the furtherance of .any of the powers vested in it by law. The said 
resolution shall set forth, in a detailed statement, the various purposes of antici- 
pated expenditure and the amount necessary for each. A copy of such resolution 
shall be certified by the president and clerk of said board, under the seal of said 
board and delivered to the mayor and common council of said city. If the mayor 
approves such statement, he shall sign it and immediately file the same with the 
city clerk. It shall be the duty of the common council to levy and collect annu- 
ally such amount as the board shall have determined and the mayor approved at 
the same time and in the same manner as other general city taxes are levied and 
raised for the ensuing year, and such common council shall have no power to 
withhold or refuse to levy and collect by tax, such sums so determined by such 
resolution to be necessary for teachers" wages, for superintendence, for the ordi- 
nary contingent expenses, including necessary repairs to all the structures belong- 
ing to the city for supporting the schools, for stationery and books and for the 
expenses of said board of education, in accordance with the estimate thus approved 
by the mayor. In case the mayor shall disapprove of any of the items embraced 
in the estimate so presented to him, he shall, within five days after its receipt, 
state in detail his objections to each item so refused and the reason of such objec- 
tion and refusal as to each item and file the same with the clerk of the board of 
education, and the board of education shall immediately publish such communica- 
tion. Said board shall then proceed to reconsider such estimate, and if it agrees 
by a vote of two-thirds of the members thereof to sustain the estimate as made, 
it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, or if said board do not 
agree to sustain the estimate as made, it shall be so modified as to conform to the 
views expressed by the mayor in his objection, and in either event, shall be agam 



33'^^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

certified by the president and clerk of said board to the common council. And 
the common council of said city shall include in the annual tax and assessment roll 
for that year, the amount specified in said original or amended item, and the same 
shall be collected by the city chamberlain who shall credit the same to the general 
school fund. (As amended by L. 1^04, ch. 3ip.) 

§ 108 After the said board of education shall have finally delivered to the 
mayor and common council, by filing with the city clerk a certified copy of the 
resolution finally determining the amount of the money to be raised as prescribed 
herein, the said board of education shall thereupon be authorized to borrow upon 
the credit of the city of Plattsburg, such money as such board shall determine to 
be necessary for the support and maintenance of the schools in anticipation of 
the tax to be raised for that purpose in the current year. Such loans shall be 
evidenced by the note of the city of Plattsburg, which shall be signed by the presi- 
dent and clerk of said board, sealed with its corporate seal and shall be condi- 
tioned that the city of Plattsburg will pay the principal named therein with inter- 
est at a rate specified therein, not greater than the legal rate of interest, and shall 
mature and be paid by the city chamberlain at the time therein mentioned, not 
later than the close of the then fiscal year. The interest on said notes shall be 
paid by the city of Plattsburg and charged against any moneys due, or to become 
due to the board of education from any appropriation made, or to be made to 
said board. The city clerk upon the request of the board, shall countersign the 
same, and affix the corporate seal of the city thereto, and thereupon the same shall 
be a binding obligation against the city. The city chamberlain shall keep a sepa- 
rate account of all school moneys received by him, whether from State authori- 
ties, local taxation or any other source, and shall pay out the same only upon war- 
rants signed by the president and clerk of said board of education. Such war- 
rants shall be drawn only by the authority of the board of education, and only as 
the said money shall be actually needed for disbursement. The city of Platts- 
burg shall be responsible to the board of education for the faithful performance 
by the city chamberlain of the duties of the treasurer of the said board of edu- 
cation. (As amended by L. TP04, ch. Sip.) 

§ 109 Whenever said board of education shall have determined by resolution 
an amount of money to be raised for new sites or buildings and furniture and fix- 
tures therefor, or for repairs or improvements to buildings or grounds, which 
sum shall in any one year exceed the sum of five thousand dollars, the said board 
of education shall present such estimate to the mayor and common council of the 
city as required for other expenditures by section 107 herein, and the same course 
shall be followed with .reference to such proposed expenditure in all respect as is 
provided for in said section 107. And when the board of education shall have 
finally certified such estimate together with their action upon any objections which 
the mayor may have filed thereto with them, in accordance with the provisions of 
section 107, the common council shall, by resolution, authorize such board of 
education to borrow such sum or such part thereof as the common council may 



EDUCATION CODE 33 1 

determine. Such loan shall be evidenced by the bond or bonds of the city of 
Plattsburg of such denominations as the said common council shall determine, 
which bonds shall be conditioned that the city of Plattsburg will pay the principal 
named therein and interest and shall bear interest not exceeding the legal rate per 
annum, payable semiannually, and be payable in such sums in each year as the 
common council shall determine, and shall be signed by the mayor and city clerk 
of Plattsburg, and sealed with the corporate seal of said city, and a record thereof 
shall be kept in the city clerk's office. The bonds so issued, shall be delivered to 
said board of education and shall not be negotiable until signed by the president 
and clerk of said board and sealed with its corporate seal, and the amount realized 
from the sale thereof shall be paid to the city chamberlain, and the par value of 
said bonds shall be placed by the city chamberlain to the credit of the said board 
of education, and shall be drawn only on warrants of said board of education, and 
for the purposes for which such loan shall have been authorized, and for no other 
purpose. The common council of the city of Plattsburg shall annually raise by 
tax and as a part of the school moneys, the amount of money necessary to pay the 
interest amiually accruing upon such bonds and the principal falling due and pay- 
able in each year. The said board of education shall certify annually, by and in 
the resolution heretofore referred to in section 107, the amount of money neces- 
sary to be raised by tax, to pay interest on such bonds and the principal of such 
bonds falling due in any ensuing year. (As amended by L. ipo4, ch. Sip.) 

§ no If at any time after the passage of the resolution provided in section 
107, the said board of education shall determine that more money is needed for 
any of the purposes mentioned in said section, the said board may, by resolution, 
determine the amount so needed, whereupon the same procedure shall be taken 
with reference to such additional sum as is provided by section 107 herein. And 
the provisions herein relating to the temporary loan of moneys in anticipation of 
taxes, shall apply to this section with reference to such additional amounts, and 
the same provisions shall apply to the common council of such city with reference 
to the raising by tax of the amounts thus temporarily borrowed, and the payment 
of the interest thereof as is contained in section 107. 

§ III All public moneys or funds belonging or appropriated to the use of said 
school district shall be paid to the chamberlain of said city, who shall keep the 
same separate from the general funds of the city, and shall credit to the school 
fund the moneys or property belonging thereto. The board of education shall 
disburse all the school moneys of said district by orders from the chamberlain, 
signed by the president; said orders shall be numbered consecutively, and shall 
specify the purpose for which they are drawn, and the persons to whom payable. 
Upon request from said board, the chamberlain shall certify from time to time 
the balance remaining, to be collected by or paid to the city chamberlain for school 
purposes ; it shall not be lawful for such chamberlaifi to apply such moneys or any 
part thereof to any other purpose or object. 

g 112 The said board of education shall, from time to time, as it shall deem 



332 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

expedient or necessary, make provisions in accordance with the provisions of this 
chapter for additions, alterations or improvements to or in the sites or structures 
belonging to said district, purchase other sites or structures, erect new buildings, 
purchase apparatus and fixtures, or other necessary property for the district, as 
It shall determine. But no resolution for the purchase of new sites or the erec- 
tion of new buildings shall be effective, unless it shall receive the affirmative vote 
of two-thirds of the members of said board of education. Said board of educa- 
tion shall provide accommodations and facilities for the proper instruction of all 
the children of school age residing in such city, and shall provide suitable text- 
books for indigent pupils, and in their discretion, may embrace in their estimate 
submitted to the mayor and common council, suitable provision for providing all 
pupils with textbooks to be used in said schools, under such rules and regulations 
as they shall prescribe, and they have entire and exclusive charge and control of 
the public schools of the city of Plattsburg, subject to the powers of supervision 
and direction vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and sub- 
ject to the visitation of the Regents of the University and their regulations as to 
the course of education and matters pertaining therein in the academic depart- 
ment of the schools maintained by them. Said board may make all necessary 
by-laws for its own government, except as herein otherwise provided, and said 
board of education shall be subject to the laws relating to union free schools, and 
the general statutes of the State relating to schools, except as modified by this 
chapter. The board of education shall be entitled to its proportion of the State 
moneys for the public schools of said city of Plattsburg, which shall be appor- 
tioned by the State Superintendent in accordance with the general provisions of 
law. It shall have charge of the school libraries and make all necessary and 
proper regulations concerning the same, and may impose fine for abuse of books, 
and may adopt such ordinances and by-laws as they shall deem necessary for the 
protection, safekeeping, care and preservation of the school building and other 
school property of said district under their charge, and impose such penalties for 
the violation of the same as it shall deem proper. Any person incurring fines 
shall be liable to an action for the same by the board of education, and the amount 
received shall be deposited with the city chamberlain, and available for the general 
expenses of the board of education in connection with said schools. And it may 
appropriate for the benefit of said libraries out of moneys annually raised in the 
said city, by the school tax, an amount not exceeding two hundred dollars, in 
addition to the library money received from the State. It shall have the power to 
appoint librarians and provide truant officers for the enforcement of the compul- 
sory education law. 

§ 113 The said board of education shall have a corporate seal with such 
design as it may adopt. The services of the board of education designated by 
this act shall be gratuitous except of the clerk as herein provided. (As amended 
by L. ipo4, ch. Sip.) 



EDUCATION CODE 333 

Chapter 332, Laws of 1828 

An act to incorporate the Plattsburg Academy 

Section i Benjamin Mooers, John Lynde, William Swetland, Jonathan 
Griffin, Frederick Halsey, Frederick L. C. Sailly, Heman Cady, Ephraim Buck, 
William F. Haille, George Marsh, John Palmer, Henry K. Averill, are hereby 
constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name of the trustees of the 
Plattsburg Academy, for the purpose of promoting literary instruction at Platts- 
burg, in the county of Clinton, and by that name they and their successors shall 
have perpetual succession, may sue and be sued, make and use a common seal, 
and alter the same at pleasure, hold property, real and personal, to the amount 
of the annual income of three thousand dollars, and buy and sell, and otherwise 
dispose of such property, real and personal. 

§ 2 Whenever any three of said trustees shall signify their request, the 
senior trustee actually exercising his office shall call a meeting of the said 
trustees, at such time and place as he shall appoint, of which previous notice 
shall be given by posting the same on the door of the academy, not less than 
eight, nor more than twelve days from the time of making such request. 

§ 3 At every such meeting, the senior trustee present shall preside; such 
seniority to be determined by their nomination in this act, or by their priority 
of election, after all the trustees herein named shall have become extinct. 

§ 4 A major part of the trustees of said academy shall form a quorum to 
do business, and adjourn from time to time as the duties of their trust may 
require; and it shall not be necessary to give notice of a meeting held in pur- 
suance of such adjournment. 

§ 5 The said trustees, or a major part of them, when assembled as aforesaid, 
may from time to time appoint a treasurer and clerk, principal, tutors and other 
necessary officers, and may ascertain their compensation, and may remove them 
at pleasure. 

g 6 It shall be lawful for the said trustees to make such by-laws for the 
government of the said corporation, for the admission, education and discipline 
of the students, and for the establishment of terms of tuition, the management 
and disposal of the property and affairs of the said corporation, and may alter, 
amend or repeal the same, as a major part of such quorum shall determine to 
be most beneficial. 

§ 7 Whenever any vacancy shall happen in said corporation, by the death, 
resignation, refusal or neglect to act for one year, of any one trustee, it shall 
be lawful for the residue of the said trustees to elect, by ballot, at any legal 
meeting, a person to supply such vacancy. 

§ 8 The said trustees, or a major part of them, when legally assembled, may 
elect, by a majority of votes, one of their number president for one year, and 
until another shall be elected ; which president may perform the duties required 
by this act to be performed by the senior trustee. 



334 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chapter 8io, Laws of 1867 
An act to consolidate school districts numbers i, 2 and 5 of the town of Platts- 

burg, in a free union single district, and to vest the government thereof 

and of the academy therein in a board of education 
(Note. All of this act, except section s, was expressly repealed by the 
charter of ipo2.) 

Section 3 Whenever the existing trustees of the academy of Plattsburg shall 
signify their assent thereto, it shall be the duty of the said board of education 
forthwith to establish an academical department of the said union free school 
district in the said academy; but nothing in this act contained shall be deemed 
or held to affect or impair the separate corporate existence and continuance of 
the said academy, or any rights or privileges appertaining to it as such, except 
as herein expressly provided; and the said board of education shall succeed to, 
have, possess and execute all the duties and powers had, or possessed by, or 
incumbent upon the board of trustees of the said academy to do or perform, 
touching the said academy as a corporate body, the real and personal estate 
thereof, its fiscal concerns, and the duties required to be performed by the rules 
and regulations of the Regents of the University, and to which said academy 
shall remain subject in its course of education, and all matters pertaining thereto. 
And the said board of education shall become on the organization thereof, the 
acting trustees of the said academy, charged with all the duties and powers 
of the former trustees (except as herein provided), and all the powers and 
duties conferred by this act, and the said title 9 of the act of 1864, as modified 
by this act; and to enable said board fully to execute said trust, the legal title 
to the academy lot, the structures thereon, and to all the personal property 
belonging to the said academy as a corporation, and the care and custody of all 
the existing records and papers of the said board of trustees of the academy shall 
pass and vest in the said board of education on the organization thereof, in 
trust as aforesaid. The president, secretary, treasurer, collector, and other 
officers of the board of education, shall hold the same positions respectively in 
the board of acting trustees of the academy, and a separate record shall be kept 
of all matters relating to the separate existence of said academy. 



PORT JERVIS' 

The city of Port Jervis is included in union free school district no. I, town 
of Deerpark, but the boundaries of the city and of such district are not 
coterminous. 

Chapter 579 of the Laws of 1866 extends the boundaries of this district by 
including all that part of school district 9 which lies within the corporate limits 
of the village of Port Jervis, and also provides for taxes, bonds etc., to purchase 
sites and to build or purchase schoolhouses. 

Chapter 573 of the Laws of 1867 amends the boundaries of this district and 
authorizes the district to raise money to purchase sites and to build or purchase 
schoolhouses. 

Chapter 524 of the Laws of 1880 authorizes the board of education of this 
district to employ a superintendent of schools and the act further confers upon 
the district the powers and privileges conferred upon cities and incorporated 
villages under the general provisions of consolidated acts relating to public 
instruction. 

Chapter 61 of the Laws of 1884 authorizes this district to take proceedings 
for the removal of St John's burying ground and to acquire the title to said 
burying ground for the enlargement of the schoolhouse site. 



* The provisions of the Education Law apply to this city. 



I335I 



POUGHKEEPSIE 

Chapter 425, Laws of 1896 
An act to amend the charter of the city of Poughkeepsie 

TITLE IX 

OF SCHOOLS AND BOARD OF EDUCATION 
Section 161 The board of education shall consist of seven members who 
shall be styled commissioners of schools. Upon the expiration of the terms of 
ofhce of the commissioners now appointed, and annually thereafter, the mayor 
shall appoint one commissioner of schools for the term of seven years. {As 
amended by L. ipoo, ch. 659; L. ipoi, ch. 204; L. ipio, ch. 632.) 

§ 162 The commissioners of schools shall meet at the board rooms on each 
1st day of January, unless, it be Sunday, and then on the next day, and organize 
by electing one of their number president. If a president of the board shall 
not be elected on or before the 5th day of January thereafter, the mayor shall 
designate one of the commissioners as the president of the board until the next 
organization thereof. The president of said board shall receive an annual salary 
of one hundred dollars. (As amended by L. ipoo, ch. dfp; L. ipoi, ch. 204; 
L. ipio, ch. 632.) 

§ 163 The board of education shall have charge and control of the public 
schools and public school property of the city, and shall have power: 

1 To appoint a superintendent of public schools, a secretary of the board and 
such other officers and employees as it shall deem necessary, and shall prescribe 
their duties, except as hereinafter provided. 

2 To fix the salary and compensation of each of said officers and employees, 
except as otherwise herein provided. 

3 To acquire property for school purposes; to erect school buildings and 
keep the same in repair. 

4 To furnish supplies for school purposes. 

5 To employ teachers and to fix the amount of their compensation. No 
teacher shall be employed who does not hold the certificate of qualification 
required by the laws of the State. 

6 To prescribe the studies in the schools and the textbooks to be used therein. 

7 To dismiss any teacher whenever from any cause the interests of the schools 
require such dismissal. 

8 To make rules and regulations for the public schools. 

9 Except as otherwise provided in this act, to exercise all powers conferred 
by the laws of the State boards of education in union free school districts. {As 
amended by L. i8q8, ch. 232; L. igoo, ch. 659; L. ipoi, ch. 204; L. 1910 ch. 
632.) 

% 164 The president of such board shall, between the ist and 15th days of 

[336I 



EDUCATION CODE 337 

October, make to the Superintendent of Public Instruction a report of the 
preceding school year of all matters and things which trustees of school districts 
are by law required to report, and of all such other matters and things as the 
said Superintendent shall from time to time require. 

§ 165 The board of education shall make a report to the common council on 
the 31st day of December of each year, setting forth the number and condition 
of each school under its charge, and containing an account of all warrants issued 
by it and of all debts unpaid, and the objects for which they were incurred. 
The report to specify the cost of maintaining each school, and such other mat- 
ters as the board may wish to submit or the council require. {As amended by 
L. ipio, ch. 632.) 

§ 166 (Repealed by L. 1910, ch. 632.) 

§ 167 When the board of education has included in its annual estimate, and 
certified to the common council an amount of money which will be needed for 
the purchase or condemnation of a lot, or the purchase or erection of a builduig 
for school purposes, the common council may approve the same, and include 
it in the amount to be raised by general taxation, as provided in section 66 of 
this act, or it may submit the question of the purchase of a lot or the purchase 
or erection of a building, or both, to the electors, being taxpayers, entitled to 
vote special taxes under this act at an election to be held in the manner provided 
by this act in voting special taxes. The said electors shall vote by ballot on 
which shall be written or printed the object for which the ballot is cast whether 
for or against a building or lot, or both. If a majority of the votes cast shall 
be cast for a building or lot, or both, it shall be the duty of the common council 
to certify to the board the result of such election and the board shall purchase 
a lot, or purchase or erect a building, or both, in such location and in such 
manner as to the board shall seem best. Whenever a lot shall be acquired by 
purchase, condemnation or otherwise, or a building shall be purchased or erected 
the title to such lot shall be taken to, and shall vest in the city. The cost of build- 
ing shall in no case exceed the amount estimated by the board. {As amended by 
L. 1900, ch. 659; L. ipoi, ch. 204; L. 1910, ch. 632.) 
§ 168 and 169 (Repealed by L. 1910, ch. 632.) 

TITLE V 
OF ASSESSMENTS AND TAXES 
Section 66 On or before the ist day of October in each year, the board of 
public works, the board of education, the board of commissioners of chanties, 
the police board, the board of health, and the board of trustees of the city 
library shall each estimate and certify to the common council the amount of 
money required for the expenses of its department for the next year, stating 
in detail as far as practicable, the purposes for which the money is required. 
The common council shall prepare a like estimate of all other moneys to be 
raised as herein specified, and of all the estimated income on account thereof, 
and shall cause such estimates to be published in one or more daily newspapers 



33^5 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

published in said city, one week before action shall be taken thereon by the 
said council. The council shall revise such estimates and shall cause the 
amounts thereof, or so much thereof as it shall deem necessary, to be raised 
by general tax. (As amended by L. ipoo, ch. 6jp.) 

Section 14 provides that the mayor shall appoint a board of education of 
seven members and may remove such members. Under the terms of section 6 
such members must take the oath of office prescribed by the constitution. 

TITLE XI 
OF THE CITY LIBRARY 

Section 184 The mayor shall annually appoint one trustee of the city library 
for the term of five years. (As added by L. ipoo, ch. 6^g, and amended by L. 
ipoi, ch. 204; L. ipio, ch. 632.) 

§ 185 The trustees shall meet at the Adriance Memorial Library on the ist 
day of January, unless it be Sunday, and then on the next day, and organize 
by electing one of their number president. 

The president of the board shall receive an annual salary of one hundred 
dollars. (As added by L. ipoo, ch. 6jp, and amended by L. ipoi, ch. 204; 
L. ipio, ch. 632.) 

§ 186 The said board of trustees of the city library shall have the charge and 
control of the public library of the city, and shall have power: 

1 To appoint a librarian who shall also act as secretary of the board, and 
such other officers and employees as it shall deem necessary, and shall prescribe 
their respective duties. 

2 To fix the salary and compensation of said officers and employees and pay 
the same from the public funds under its charge. 

3 To remove any officer or agent appointed or employed by it at pleasure. 

4 To appropriate for the purchase of books and periodicals for the benefit 
of said library, out of the moneys annually raised, an amount which it shall 
deem proper. 

5 To make all needful rules and regulations, and do all things, subject to the 
provisions of this act, requisite for the care, maintenance and protection of the 
public library of the city. 

6 To make regulations, imposing fines and penalties for the abuse of books 
belonging to said library, and any person incurring any such fine or penalty 
shall be liable to an action for the same, and the amount received shall be 
applied to the use of the library. 

7 In addition to the foregoing powers, the usual powers of a corporation for 
public purposes are hereby conferred upon the said board of trustees of the 
city library, to take, accept and execute any trust or power for the benefit of 
said city library that may be conferred upon, intrusted or committed to it by 
any person or persons by grant, transfer, bequest, gift or otherwise, and to 
receive, take and hold any property which may be the subject of any such 
trust. (As added by L. ipoo, ch. 65P, and amended by L. ipo2, ch. 228.) 

§ 187 and 188 (Repealed by L. 1910, ch. 632.) 



EDUCATION CODE 339 

Chapter 227, Laws of 1902 
An act relative to a public school teachers retirement fund in the city of 

Poughkeepsie 
Section i The board of education of the city of Poughkeepsie is hereby given 
the general care and management of the public school teachers retirement fund 
created by this act. The city treasurer of the city of Poughkeepsie shall hold all 
moneys belonging to said fund, and by the direction of the board of education 
shall invest and pay out the same. The board of education shall have charge of 
and administer said public school teachers retirement fund as it shall deem most 
beneficial, and is empowered to- make all necessary contracts and take all neces- 
sary and proper action and proceedings in the premises and to make payments 
from said fund of annuities granted in pursuance of this act; and shall from time 
to time establish such rules and regulations for the administration of such fund 
as it shall deem best. The city treasurer of the city of Poughkeepsie shall report 
in detail to the common council of the city of Poughkeepsie annually at its last 
meeting in each year, the condition of said fund, and the items of the receipts and 
disbursements on account of the same. The public school teachers retirement 
fund herein provided for shall consist of the following with the interest and 
income thereof : 

1 All money, pay, compensation or salary, or any part thereof forfeited, de- 
ducted or withheld for or on account of absence from duty for any cause. The 
clerk of the board of education shall certify monthly to the said city treasurer the 
amounts so deducted from the salaries of teachers during the preceding month. 

2 All moneys received from donations, legacies, gifts, bequests or otherwise for 
and on account of said fund. 

3 The board of education shall on and after January i, 1903, reserve monthly 
and turn over to said fund two per centum of the salaries paid each month to the 
teachers who shall, prior to that date elect in writing to come under the pro- 
visions of this act; and the board of education shall also reserve monthly and 
turn into said fund two per centum of the salaries paid each month to all teachers 
appointed after January i, 1903. 

4 The common council of the city of Poughkeepsie is hereby empowered and 
authorized to raise by general tax in the manner and at the time provided for in 
section 66 of chapter 659 of the Laws of 1900, an annual sum not exceeding 
twelve hundred dollars per annum, which shall be turned into said fund. 

5 All such other methods of increasement as may be duly and legally devised 
for the increase of said fund. 

6 The board of education may retire from active service, any teacher now 
in its employ, who has elected to come under the provisions of this act; or who 
shall be appointed on or after January i, 1903, who has taught not less than 



1 The teachers of this city have abandoned the local retirement act and have come under 
the general lavi^ relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section 1109-& of the 
Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of the 
teachers of this city it has been superseded by the general law. 



340 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

twenty-five years, of which twenty immediately preceding the proposed retire- 
ment shall have been in the public schools of the city of Poughkeepsie. Each and 
every teacher retired under the foregoing clause, shall receive during life, an 
annual allowance of three hundred dollars, to be paid in equal quarterly instal- 
ments ; whenever the amount in the retirement fund herein provided for shall 
not be sufficient in any year to pay the allowances heretofore specified, payments 
shall be made in due proportion to the amount in the retirement fund applicable to 
that purpose. The board of education is hereby given the power to use both the 
principal and income on said fund and to manage, accumulate and control the 
same as said board shall provide by its by-laws. 

§ 2 In case any teacher who is at the time of the passage of this act, or may 
hereafter be in the employ of the board of education shall be removed or dis- 
charged as such, all percentages from his or her salary paid into said public school 
teachers retirement fund, shall be reimbursed to him or her. 



RENSSELAER 

Chapter 69, Laws of 1915 

TITLE XIII 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

Section 279 Department of public instruction 

280 Meetings of board and appointment of president and clerk of said board 

281 Powers and duties of board of education 

282 Purchases and repairs exceeding five hundred dollars 

283 Superintendent of schools 

284 Powers and duties of superintendent of schools 

285 Appointment of teachers 

286 New sites and new buildings 

287 School budget 

288 Preparation, revision and approval of budget 

289 School funds 

290 Members of board of education to constitute library commission 

291 Powers and duties of the library commission 

§ 279 Department of public instruction, i A department of public in- 
struction in the city of Rensselaer is hereby established. The affairs of said 
department shall be under the general management and control of a board of 
education composed of five members, to be called " members of the board of 
education " and to be appointed as herein provided. 

2 No person shall be eligible to the office of member of the board of education 
who has not been a resident of the city for which he is appointed, for a period 
of at least five years immediately preceding the date of his appointment. 

3 Within ten days after the passage of this act, the mayor of the city shall 
appoint five members of the board of education, as follows : two to serve until 
February i, 1916; two to serve until February i, 1917, and one to serve until 
February i, 1918. Upon the appointment of such members, the terms of office 
of the present commissioners of education of the city, having control and manage- 
ment of the schools of said city, shall cease and determine. 

4 Thereafter and after the ist day of January, and before the ist day of 
February in each year preceding the expiration of a term of office by a member 
of the board of education, the mayor shall appoint a successor to hold office for 
a term of three years from and including the ist day of February in the year 
in which he is appointed. 

5 If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member of the board of education, the 
mayor shall fill such vacancy by the appointment of a member for the remainder 
of such term. 

6 Such members of the board of education shall serve without pay. 

§ 280 Meetings of board and appointment of president and clerk of said 

[3411 



34^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

board, i Upon the appointment of such members of the board of education, 
the superintendent of schools shall call a meeting of the board to be held at the 
rooms usually occupied by the commissioners of education, by giving at least 
three days written notice to each member thereof and stating the hour at which 
the meeting will be held. At such meeting of the board it shall elect one of its 
members president who shall exercise all the powers usually incident to such 
office. The superintendent of schools shall be secretary of such board and the 
board shall determine his duties, but he shall receive no additional compensation 
for his services in acting as clerk of said board. 

2 Such board shall also fix a time for holding regular board meetings and 
shall prescribe a method for calling special meetings of such board. 

§ 281 Powers and duties of board of education. The board of education 
shall possess the following powers and be charged with the following duties. 

1 To perform any duty imposed upon boards of education or trustees of 
common schools under the Education Law or other general statutes or the regu- 
lations of The University of the State of New York or the Cortimissioner of 
Education, relating to public education, so far as they may be applicable to the 
schools of the city of such classes and not inconsistent with the provisions of 
this act. 

2 To appoint a qualified person other than a member thereof, superintendent 
of schools, and determine the salary of such superintendent. 

3 To appoint from time to time as required by law, such teachers, nurses, 
attendants, officers, janitors and such other experts in educational work and 
such other employees as such board shall determine necessary for the efficient 
management of the schools, and to fix their compensation. 

4 To have the care, custody and safe-keeping of all school property, real and 
personal, except as herein provided and to prescribe rules and regulations for 
the preservation and protection of such property. 

5 To provide such school apparatus, maps, globes, furniture and other equip- 
ment as may be necessary for the proper and efficient management of such schools 
and also to provide free textbooks and other supphes to all children attending 
the schools of said city. 

6 To provide such free elementary schools, high schools, night schools, open 
air schools, vocational and industrial schools, part-time and continuation schools, 
vacation schools, schools for mentally and physically defective children and 
schools for adults, as such board shall determine necessary. 

7 To provide school libraries which shall be open to the public and to estabHsh 
and equip playgrounds, athletic centers, social centers, lecture courses, and reading 
and recreation rooms, whenever financial provision shall be provided therefor by 
the common council. 

8 To determine the general course of study which shall be given to the schools 
and to approve the context of such courses before they become operative. 

9 To determine the textbooks to be used in the schools upon the recommenda- 
tion of the superintendent of schools. 



EDUCATION CODE 343 

10 To prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the conducting of 
the proceedings of such board, and for the general management, control and 
discipline of the schools. 

11 To make ordinary repairs and to purchase supplies or materials for the 
school system, where no single item exceeds five hundred dollars, and the pro- 
visions of section 75 of this act shall not apply to the making of such repairs or 
the purchase of such supplies or materials, and the same may be purchased 
without public advertising therefor. 

§ 282 Purchases and repairs exceeding five hundred dollars. All repairs to 
buildings and grounds and supplies or materials purchased for the school system, 
the purchase price or cost thereof which exceeds five hundred dollars, shall be 
made by the common council on the recommendation and approval of the board of 
education. 

§ 283 Superintendent of schools, i No person shall be eligible to the posi- 
tion of superintendent of schools who has not had at least five years' successful 
experience in teaching or in the supervision of schools. 

2 The superintendent of schools shall hold office for a period commencing 
from the date of his appointment and continuing until the expiration of three 
years following the ist day of July following his appointment. Charges of 
incompetency, maladministration or misconduct in office may be preferred in 
writing against the superintendent, whereupon the board shall proceed to hear 
such charges and if such charges are sustained by an affirmative vote of a 
majority of the board, the superintendent may be dismissed from office. 

§ 284 Pov^^ers and duties of superintendent of schools. The superintendent 
of schools shall possess the following powers and be charged with the following 
duties : 

1 To enforce all provisions of law and rules and regulations affecting the 
management of the schools and to be the chief executive officer of the school 
system. 

2 To prepare an outline and the scope of the work to be included therein, 
for each of the courses of study authorized by the board of education, and to 
submit the same to such board for its approval, and when thus approved to see 
that such courses of study are used in the grades and schools for which they 
are authorized. 

3 To recommend to the board of education suitable textbooks to be used in 
the various grades and subjects taught in the curriculums of the schools. 

4 To transfer teachers from one school to another or from one grade to 
another. 

5 To have general supervision over all the teachers employed in the schools, 
and over all employees of the board of education, and to report to said board 
violations of regulations and all cases of insubordination and to suspend a teacher 
or other employee until the next regular meeting of the board when all facts 
relating to the case shall be submitted to the board for determination, and in 
such cases the accused party shall have the right to appear before the board. 



344 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

6 To have general supervision and direction over the enforcement and obser- 
vation of the courses of study and the examination and promotion of pupils. 

7 To have general supervision and direction over the work of special experts 
employed in the school system, and over matters pertaining to playgroimds, 
medical inspection, athletic and social center work, libraries and all the educa- 
tional activities under the management of the board of educa'tion. 

§ 285 Appointment of teachers, i The principal of each school, directors, 
supervisors, and other educational experts, shall be appointed by the board of 
education upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools and shall 
hold their position during good behavior, and shall be removed for cause only- 
after a hearing by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the board. 

2 All other teachers shall be appointed on the recommendation of the super- 
intendent of schools for the probationary period of not to exceed two years ; at 
the expiration of such term the superintendent of schools shall make a written 
report to the board of education recommending for regular appointment those 
teachers whom he has found competent and efficient. The board of education 
may thereupon appoint to the teaching force of the city, those teachers for whom 
satisfactory reports are submitted by the superintendent of schools. Thereafter 
such teachers shall hold their position during good behavior, and shall be removed 
for cause only after a hearing by affirmative vote by a majority of the board. 

3 No teacher shall be appointed to the teaching force of the city, who does 
not possess the qualifications prescribed under the educational law and under 
the regulations prescribed by the commissioners of education for the certification 
of teachers employed in the schools of the cities of the State. 

4 A teacher whose name is not included in the report of the superintendent 
of schools as doing efficient work for two successive years shall be discontinued 
as a member of the teaching force of the city, unless a majority of the members 
of the board of education shall vote to retain such teacher. 

§ 286 New sites and new buildings, i Whenever in the judgment of the 
board of education the needs of the city require a new school building or when- 
ever one of the present buildings should be repaired, remodeled or enlarged, 
such board shall pass a resolution specifying in detail the necessities therefor, 
and shall estimate an amount of money necessary for such purpose and shall 
forward a certified copy of said resolution and estimate to the mayor and the 
common council. 

2 Whenever in the judgment of the board of education it is necessary to select 
a new site or to enlarge the present site or to designate a playground or athletic 
center, such board shall pass a formal resolution stating the necessity therefor 
and describing by metes and bounds the grounds or territory desired for each of 
these purposes. Such resolution when adopted, a certified copy thereof shall be 
forwarded to the mayor and the common council. 

3 The common council shall thereupon consider such resolution and may call 
for such additional information from the board of education as appears necessary. 
The common council may authorize the issuance of bonds or certificates of in- 



EDUCATION CODE 345 

debtedness to meet the expenses incurred or to be incurred for such purposes as 
provided in this act, and which bonds and certificates of indebtedness shall be 
issued pursuant to provisions of this act and in the form for which bonds and 
certificates of indebtedness are issued for all city purposes. 

4 The plans and specifications for repairing, remodeling or enlarging a school 
building and for the construction of new school buildings shall be prepared by 
and under the direction of the common council of the city, and the common 
council is hereby authorized to obtain such plans and specifications through com- 
petition or may authorize the employment of an architect to prepare such plans 
and specifications. 

5 No school building shall be constructed, no grounds improved, or otherwise 
changed and no school buildings shall be remodeled, repaired or enlarged until 
the plans and specifications therefor are submitted to the board of education and 
approved by a majority vote of that body. 

6 The construction, repairing and remodeling of school buildings and the con- 
struction, repairs or improvements of buildings, sites and other property author- 
ized under provisions of this act and the award of contracts therefor shall be by, 
under and through the common council of the city. 

§ 287 School budget. On or before the 15th day of May in each year the 
board of education shall prepare a budget for the ensuing fiscal year of such 
sums of money as may be deemed necessary for the following purposes after 
deducting therefrom the amount anticipated in the next apportionment of school 
funds fro'm the State. 

1 Salary of superintendent of schools, of all teachers, of all professional 
experts, of all nurses, of truant officers or janitors and of all other employees of 
the school system appointed or employed by the board of education. 

2 All other necessary, incidental, contingent expenses including the ordinary 
repairs of buildings, the purchase of fuel and light, supplies, textbooks, repairs 
and purchases of school apparatus, books, furniture and fixtures and other articles 
and service necessary for the maintenance, operation and support of the school 
system. 

§ 288 Preparation, revision and approval of budget, i The board of educa- 
tion shall give the mayor official notice of its meeting at which the aforesaid 
budget is to to be prepared and the mayor may attend such meeting and shall be 
accorded the right of inquiry into any item of such budget and of the privileges of 
said meeting of the board by said board, except the privilege of voting. When the 
board of education shall finally have determined on the statement of expenses 
for the items indicated in the preceding section, it shall present the same to the 
mayor or the acting mayor of the city. After the mayor or acting mayor ap- 
proves such statement, he shall sign it and immediately file it with the city clerk. 

2 If the mayor disapproves of the same or any item therein, he shall within 
five days return such budget to the president of the board of education with his 
objection thereto indorsed thereon. The board shall then proceed to reconsider 
said budget and if three of the members of said board vote in favor of said 



346 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

budget, it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall imme- 
diately be filed with the city clerk. If three of the members of the board do not 
vote for the adoption of said budget, it shall be modified so as to conform to the 
views indorsed by the mayor in his objections, or the board shall present to the 
mayor as in the first instance, a new budget. 

3 If the mayor approves of such new budget, he shall sign it and file it with 
the city clerk, and the mayor if he does not approve of any item therein, shall 
within three days return the same with his objections as before. The board of 
education shall continue to present budgets as aforesaid until the mayor's 
approval is obtained or until three of the members of such board vote in favor 
of such budget over the mayor's objection. Such budget when thus approved 
or passed shall be filed with the city clerk. If the mayor fails to sign the state- 
ment of the budget required as herein provided or fails to return the same with 
his objections thereto, to the board of education within five days after its sub- 
mission to him, such statement shall be filed with the city clerk in the same 
manner as if it had been approved. 

4 When such statement is finally filed with the city clerk, the common council 
in determining the amount of the annual city tax levy shall include the amount 
specified in such final statement without change and shall cause the said amount 
to be levied in the annual city tax levy and extended upon the tax rolls in a 
separate column to be headed " School Taxes." Such school taxes shall be 
received and the collection thereof enforced in the same manner provided for the 
receiving and collection of other city taxes, and when the same shall be collected 
by the city treasurer he shall credit it to the school fund of the department of 
public instruction. 

5 Such budget and statement shall be completed and filed with the city clerk 
on or before the 15th day of June in each year. 

§ 289 School funds, i Public moneys appropriated to the city or belonging to 
the city, when received from any source whatsoever, and all funds raised or 
collected by the city for school purposes or to be used by the board of education 
for any purpose authorized by this act. shall be paid to the treasurer of the 
city who shall keep the same separate from the general funds of the city and 
shall credit all such funds to the department of public instruction. 

2 Such funds shall be disbursed by a vote of the board of education upon 
warrants drawn on the city treasurer, signed by the president of the board of 
education and superintendent of schools. Such orders shall be numbered con- 
secutively and shall specify the purpose for which drawn and the person or 
corporation to whom they are payable. All expenditures and purchases made 
under the provisions of section 282 of this act shall be paid by the board of 
education after such expenditures and purchases have been made and delivered 
to and accepted by such board and when the bills therefor are submitted in item- 
ized form and approved by the common council. 

3 The salary of the superintendent of schools, of all teachers, professional 
experts, nurses, truant officers, janitors and all other employees of the school 



EDUCATION CODE 34? 

system appointed or employed by the board of education, shall be paid in such 
manner and at such times, and the moneys disbursed therefor, as the board of 
education shall fix and determine. 

4 It shall be unlawful for the city treasurer to permit the use of such funds 
for any purpose other than that for which they are authorized, nor shall such 
funds be paid out except on the countersignature of the mayor. The city treas- 
urer shall render to the board of education a monthly statement showing the 
amount of funds available and the specific purposes for which they may be 
expended. 

§ 290 Members of board of education to constitute library commission. 
The members of the board of education shall by virtue of their office, be public 
library commissioners, and shall constitute and be the public library commission. 
The president of the board of education shall be president of the library com- 
mission, and the superintendent of schools shall be the clerk thereof. The library 
commission shall take over all propert}^, books and equipment now under control 
and used by the existing library commission and devote the same to the objects 
of the commission. 

§ 291 Powers and duties of the library commission. The public library 
commission may appoint a librarian or librarians, and such other subordinates 
as the common council may prescribe. The public library commission shall have 
power to make and enforce rules covering the use of the libraries and books, 
and such other powers and duties as are prescribed by the provisions of section ^ 
1027 to 1044, both inclusive, of the general educational law applicable thereto 
and by this act. The common council is authorized to make suitable appropria- 
tions for library purposes in accordance with the provisions of this act, and the 
provisions of section 75 of this act, relative to the purchase of supphes and 
incurring indebtedness in excess of two hundred dollars shall not apply to 
purchases made by the library commission and they may make such purchases 
from moneys appropriated for library purposes without public advertisement. 



§ 16 Appointive officers enumerated. There shall be appointed by the mayor 
. . . five members of the board of education; . . . All appointments 
to any city office shall be evidenced by a certificate in writing, signed by the 
appointing officer and filed forthwith in the office of the city clerk. If any 
appointment be made by the common council, board or commission, such certifi- 
cate shall be signed by the officer presiding at the time of appointment so made, 
attested by the clerk and filed forthwith in the office of the city clerk. 

§ 17 Notice of appointment. Immediately after the filing of such certificate 
the city clerk shall give notice in writing to each person of his appointment to 
office. 

§ 19 Suspension and removal of appointive city officers. The mayor may, 
in writing, suspend for ten days or less at any one time, any officer of the city 
appointed by him or by the common council, but he shall not suspend the same 
person more than twice in one year. In case of the suspension of any officer, 

1 So in original. 



348 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the mayor shall forthwith report to the common council the reason of such 
suspension. 

Except as otherwise provided any appointive officer appointed by the mayor 
or common council may be removed by a two-thirds vote of the common council 
on any of the grounds for which a mayor may be removed, upon written charges 
being preferred to or by the mayor after reasonable notice thereof, and after a 
reasonable opportunity to be heard thereon has been given by the common council. 
Upon such investigation the common council may suspend such officer. 

§ 22 Holding over. Every city officer shall continue to hold office until his 
successor shall be chosen and shall qualify, and no longer. 

§ 23 Vacancies. Except as otherwise provided in this act, if a vacancy shall 
occur otherwise than by expiration of term, in any elective office of the city, the 
common council shall appoint a person to fill such vacancy until the end of the 
official year in which said vacancy occurs. If the term of officer vacating his 
office continues beyond the official year in which said vacancy occurs, a person 
shall be elected at the next annual city election after the occurring of such 
vacancy, to fill such vacancy for the remainder of the unexpired term. A 
vacancy occurring in any appointive office of the city, otherwise than by expiration 
of term, shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in the same manner 
as an appointment for a full term. 

§ 24 Resignations. Resignation of elective officers shall be made in writing 
and presented to the mayor, and of all other officers to the appointing board or 
officer, and the board or officer to whom such resignation is presented shall 
thereupon file the same in the office of the city clerk. The resignation of the mayor 
must be made and presented to and filed with the city clerk. 

§ 26 Removal of employees. Except as otherwise provided in this act, any 
board, commission or officer may remove or suspend without notice any employee 
of their or his board, coimmission or office. Laborers may be removed without 
any notice or hearing. Nothing herein contained shall be construed to limit 
or amend the civil service laws of the State. 

§ 27 Removed officer not eligible for reelection or appointment. No elec- 
tive officer who has been rem'oved from office under any provision of this act 
shall be eligible for election or appointment to fill the vacancy caused by his 
removal. 

§ 28 Appointee to be a member of the same political party as predecessor. 
In case of a vacancy from any cause in any elective office, the person appointed 
to fill such vacancy shall be a member of the same political party as the last 
incumbent of the office. 

§ 29 General powers and duties of officers and commissions. The officers, 
boards and commissions elected or appointed pursuant to this act shall, in addi- 
tion to the powers and duties specified herein, possess and exercise such powers 
and perform such duties as may from time to time be prescribed by law, ordinance 
or resolution of the common council, not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act, and so far as applicable shall have all the powers and perform all the duties 



EDUCATION CODE 349 

conferred by general law upon corresponding officers, commissions, boards or 
departments of the cities and towns of this state. 

§ 30 Oath of city officers. Any person elected or appointed to any office 
under this act shall, before assuming the same, take the oath of office prescribed 
by the constitution of this State and shall file the same in the office of the city 
clerk, and every person who shall omit to take and file his oath within the time 
prescribed by law shall be deemed to decline the office, and such office shall there- 
upon become vacant. Each commissioner of deeds and each city officer, who by 
the provisions of this act is given the same powers as commissioners of deed's, 
shall forthwith, upon his election or appointment, file a certificate of his election 
or appointment, to be issued by the city clerk, in the Rensselaer county clerk's 
office, and also take the prescribed constitutional oath of office before the said 
county clerk. 

§ 32 Officers not to be interested in contracts. No member of the common 
council or officer or employee of the city or person receiving a salary or com- 
pensation from funds appropriated by the city shall be initerested directly or 
imdirectly in any contract to which the city is a party either as principal, surety 
or otherwise, nor shall any such member of the commion council, city officers or 
employee, or person or his partner or agent, servant or employee for such officer, 
employee or person of the firm of which he is a partner, purchase from or sell to 
the city or any officer thereof, any real or personal property for the use of the city 
or any commission or officer thereof, nor shall he be interested directly or in- 
directly in any work to be performed for or service rendered to or for it or any- 
thing sold to or from said city or to any officer, board, commission or person in 
its belialf. Any contract made in violation of any of these provisions shall be 
void. A person shall not be deemed interested in a contract, purchase or sale 
made by a corporation, with, from, or to the city solely by reason of the fact 
that he is a stockholder or trustee of such corporation. The term '* city officer " 
as used here however shall not be deemed to include commissioner of deeds. 

§ 33 Officers trustees of public property. The common council and several 
members thereof and all officers and employees of the city are hereby declared 
trustees of the property, funds and effects of said city respectively, so far as such 
property, funds and effects are to be committed to their management or control, 
and every taxpayer residing in said city is hereby declared to be a cestui que 
trust in respect to said property, funds and effects respectively, and any cotrustee 
and any cestui que trust shall be entitled as against said trustee in regard to said 
property, funds and effects, to the benefit of all the rules, remedies and privileges 
provided by law for any cotrustee or cestui que trust, and to prosecute and main- 
tain an action to prevent waste and injury to any property, funds and effects 
held in trust, and such trustees are hereby held subject to all the duties and 
responsibilities imposed by law upon trustees, and such duties and responsibilities 
may be enforced by the city or by any cotrustee or cestui que trust aforesaid. 
The remedies herein provided shall be in addition to those now provided by law. 



350 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 37 Annual reports of departments. The several heads of depiartments 
shall present to the mayor annually, on or before the lOth day oif January, a 
report of their proceeding's during the preceding year. The mayor shall transmit 
the same to the common council with any recommendation he may deem proper 
to make, but nothing in this act contained shall be construed to relieve such heads 
of departments from furnishing each other information as may be required by 
the mayor at any time. 

§ 39 Official misconduct; acts prohibited. If any ofificer of the city shall 
vote for any appropriatiou or for the payment or expenditure of any mone)rs 
not authorized by or in pursuance to law, such officer shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor. If the common council or any board or commission shall pass any 
resolution authorizing or purporting to authorize, or any head of any department 
or any officer authorizing any expenditure of money by the city, for any purpose 
exceeding the amount authorized by or in pursuance to law, to be expended for 
such purpose, each officer voting for such resolution in making such authorization 
shall be persionally liable for the amount thereof. Each city officer shall upon 
the expiration of his term deliver to his successor all papers and efifects of eveiy 
description in his possession or under his control, belonging to the city or per- 
tainiing to such office, and if he shall fail to do so within five days after notification 
and request by his successor, he shall be liable to a penalty of one hundred 
dollars to be recovered by the city in a civil action together with all damages 
caused by his neglect or refusal so to do, and he may also be proceeded against 
as otherwise provided for by law. 



§ 164 Levying of city taxes and warrant for the collection thereof. Im- 
mediately after the filing of said duplicate assessment rolls with the city clerk as 
in this act provided, the common council shall cause the amounit authorized to be 
raised for city purposes, except school taxes, as finally determined to be rated and 
assessed upon the property of each person, company, corporation or association 
appearing on such assessment rolls, to be set opposite the name of each person, 
company, corporation or association respectively in a column headed " City 
Taxes " in proportion to the valuation therein stated. It shall also cause the 
amount authorized to be raised for school taxes in said city as finally determined 
as shown by the final statement prepared by the board of education filed with 
the city clerk and as in this act provided, to be rated and assessed upon the prop- 
erty of each person, company, corporation or association appearing on the said 
rolls and the same to be set down under a separate column headed " School 
Taxes " opposite the name of each person, company, corporation or association 
respectively. After said assessment rolls have been so completed and the taxes 
thereon extended, the same shall be adopted by a resolution of the common 
council and filed with the city clerk. The city clerk shall on or before the ist 
day of August deliver one of (the duplicate rolls for each ward to the treasurer 
with a warrant thereto annexed under the corporate seal of the city, signed by 



EDUCATION CODE 35 1 

the mayor and clerk thereof, commanding him to receive, levy and collect the 
several sums in the rolls specified as against the person or property therein men- 
tioned or described and the several sums mentioned under the head of " City 
Taxes " and " School Taxes " opposite their respective names in the manner 
and with the same fees and interest as in this act provided. The local assessments 
and instalments thereof, the expense of cleaning and repairing sidewalks and 
curbs and all other items required by the provisions of this act to be inserted 
in the annual tax rolls against the real property shall become a part of the city 
and school taxes upon the respective lots or parcels of land against which such 
items are charged and the whole amount thereof becomes one tax and must 
be collected as such. 



ROCHESTER 

Chapter 755, Laws of 1907 
An act constituting the charter of the city of Rochester 

ARTICLE XIV 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 381 Board of education 

382 General duties 

383 Specific duties 

384 Power to fix salaries 

385 Annual report to State Superintendent 

386 Publication of proceedings 

387 Annual report to common council 

388 Board to estimate the number of pupils enrolled 

389 Contracts for work and supplies 

390 Emergency repairs 

391 Contracts for construction of school buildings exceeding one year 

392 Custody of libraries 

393 Duties of secretary 

394 Qualifications of superintendent 

395 Powers and duties of superintendent 

396 Powers of principals 

397 Duties of supervising architect 

398 Qualifications of examiner 

399 Board of examiners 

400 Qualifications of principals and teachers 

401 Permanent appointment of principals and teachers 

402 Suspension and removal of officers and employees 

403 Common council may direct sale of school property 

404 Public schools free 

405 Teachers retirement fund 

Section 381 Board of education. The head of the department of public 
instruction is the board of education, composed of the commissioners of schools. 
The board must meet on the first Monday of each and every month and at such 
other times as it may appoint, and must at its first regular meeting in January of 
each year elect one of its members president. Special meetings may be called by 
the secretary upon order of the president or on request of a majority of the board. 

§ 382 General duties. The board establishes, controls, maintains and provides 
for the public schools, the public school system, and the general educational inter- 
ests of the city, and manages and controls the property, real and personal, which 
belongs to the city and is used for the purposes of education, subject only to the 
general statutes of the State relating to public schools and public school instruc- 
tion and to the provision of this act. 

[352] 



EDUCATION CODE 353 

§ 383 Specific duties. The board has power: 

1 Establishment of schools. To estabHsh, control and maintain kindergartens, 
common schools, high schools, manual training and industrial schools, evening 
schools, including provision for special studies and social improvement, vacation 
schools, training schools for teachers, and truant schools ; to discontinue or con- 
solidate schools ; and to establish on lands under its control, with the consent of 
the commissioner of parks, playgrounds, recreational, pleasure and athletic 
grounds, and recreational, pleasure and athletic activities and facilities, which 
when established are under the control, care, management and maintenance of 
said commissioner, and to discontinue the same. {As amended by L. ipi^, ch. 

2 Changing grades and courses of study. To change the grades of any or all 
schools, and to adopt and modify courses of study therefor. 

3 Fixing qualifications of teachers. To license teachers for the schools of the 
city, and to fix a standard qualification as a necessary requirement for the service 
of all principals and teachers in the schools of the city, which requirement may 
be higher but not lower than the minimum qualifications required by the laws of 
the State and the provisions of this act. 

4 Purchase of school property and supplies. As herein provided, to purchase, 
lease or improve sites for schoolhouses ; to build, 'purchase, lease, enlarge, im- 
prove, alter and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances ; to purchase, improve, 
exchange and repair schools, apparatus, books, furniture and appendages ; and in 
general to provide for all the requirements of the schools under its control. 

5 Appointment of oMcers and employees. To appoint as herein provided: 
a A secretary of the board to serve during its pleasure. 

b A superintendent of public schools, whose term of office is four years. 

c Two examiners to serve during the pleasure of the board. 

d A supervising architect of experience and good standing in his profession, to 
serve during the pleasure of the board. 

e All school principals and teachers. 

/ All janitors and truant officers, subject, however, to the restrictions imposed 
by the general laws of the State. 

g Such other officers and employees as it may deem necessary for the proper 
discharge of its administrative duties. 

6 Vacancies. To fill for the unexpired term any vacancies which may occur 
in the offices or positions in this section provided for. 

7 Nonresident pupils. To allow the children of persons not residents of the 
city to attend the schools under the care and control of the board, upon the pay- 
ment of such tuition and upon such terms as the board may by resolution pre- 
scribe. Permission must be granted to children residing in those portions not 
annexed of school districts numbers 2 and 10 of the town of Brighton, as such 
districts existed on the ist day of March, 1913, and of school district number 4 
of the town of Greece, as the same existed on the ist day of March, 1915, to 
attend without payment of tuition schools under the care and control of the 

12 



354 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

board. The board must cause to be made and filed in its office maps showing the 
boundaries of the aforesaiid districts as existing on said respective dates. (As 
amended by L. 1913, ch. dfp; L. 1915, ch. s^p.) 

8 Adoption of rules. To adopt rules and regulations for the proper transac- 
tion of its business ; for defining the duties of its officers and employees, and for 
the proper execution of all powers vested in and duties imposed upon it by law. 

9 Use of schools for libraries. Permit the board of trustees of public libraries 
to use school buildings or parts thereof for the establishment and maintenance of 
libraries. (As added by L. ipii, ch. 340.) 

§ 384 Power to fix salaries. The board of education may fix within the 
proper appropriation of money therefor, the salaries and compensation of all offi- 
cers and employees appointed by it. 

§ 385 Annual report to State Superintendent. The board must between the 
1st day of August and the 30th day of September of each year, transmit to the 
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a report in writing for the State school 
year ending on the next preceding 31st day of July, in such form and stating such 
facts as the State Superintendent and school laws of the State may require. 

§ 386 Publication of proceedings. It is the duty of the board to cause 
to be published in one of the official papers a report of the final proceedings of 
each meeting of the board. 

§ 387 Annual report to the common council. It is the duty of the board 
to prepare and transmit to the common council within ten days preceding the close 
of the fiscal year, correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of money 
during such fiscal year, in which accounts must be stated under appropriate 
heads : 

1 The moneys raised by the common council Under the provisions of this act. 

2 The school moneys received by the city treasurer from the county treasurer 
of the State. 

3 All other moneys received by the city treasurer, subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the same and the sources thereof. 

4 The manner in which such sums of money have been expended, specifying the 
amount paid under each head of expenditure, and whether any part of any such 
fund remains unexpended. 

5 Whether any and what claims or bills against the department, or obliga- 
tions incurred by said department, remain unpaid. 

6 A full account of the condition of the teachers retirement fund, its amount, 
the manner of its investment, and all receipts and disbursements on account of 
said fund during the year. 

§ 388 Board to estimate the number of pupils enrolled. The board must, 
on or before the 15th day of January in each year, report to the board of esti- 
mate and apportionment the total number of persons registered as pupils in the 
public schools of the city during the preceding year. 

§ 389 Contracts for work and supplies. Whenever the board intends to 
cause any work to be performed or to purchase any supplies at an estimated ex- 



EDUCATION CODE 355 

pense of not less than fifty or more than two hundred and fifty dollars, it is the 
duty of the officials having jurisdiction thereof to procure estimates of such work 
or supplies from two or more competitors, whenever practicable, and report such 
estimate to the board for its consideration and action. Whenever the estimated 
expense of such work or supplies exceeds two hundred and fifty dollars, the board 
must proceed as follows : 

a A resolution providing for the doing of the work, or the purchasing of sup- 
plies, must be entered by the clerk in full in the minutes of the board. Bids must 
be called for by publication in the official papers at least twice in each week for 
two weeks. 

b Bids duly sealed must be filed with the clerk by twelve o'clock noon of the 
last day, as stated in the advertisement. 

c Bids must be opened at the next meeting of the board and publicly read by 
the clerk. 

d Each bid, if it relates to both labor and materials, must state each separately, 
with the price thereof, and must contain the name of every person, firm or cor- 
poration interested in the same; and must be accompanied by a sufficient guar- 
antee of some disinterested person that if the bid is accepted a contract will be 
entered into and the performance of it properly secured by bonds duly approved. 

e The board may, in its discretion, accept any bid which is most advantageous 
to the city and thereupon cause a contract therefor to be executed in the name 
of the city by the president of the board; or it may reject any or all bids, as the 
interests of the city require. 

§ 390 Emergency repairs. In case of emergency requiring the closing of a 
school building unless immediate repairs thereto are made, the board may cause 
repairs thereto to be made without a contract therefor, or may let a contract 
therefor without advertising and receiving bids, upon filing with the comptroller 
a certificate approved by the mayor showing such emergency and the necessity 
of repairs. 

§ 391 Contracts for construction of school buildings exceeding one year. 
The board may let contracts for the construction of school buildings in which it 
is agreed that the contract price is payable from the moneys appropriated for the 
department of public instruction or otherwise lawfully added thereto for the 
fiscal year in which the contracts are let and for the fiscal year following, pro- 
vided that the total amount contracted to be paid from the moneys for the fiscal 
year following the letter of contracts must not exceed one hundred thousand dol- 
lars. 

§ 392 Custody of libraries. The board is the trustee of the school library 
or libraries in the city, and all the provisions of the law now or hereafter passed 
relative to public school libraries apply to the board. It is vested with the same 
discretion as to the disposition of all moneys appropriated by any law of the 
State for the purchase of libraries which is therein conferred upon the inhabi- 
tants of the school districts. It is the duty of the board to provide for the 
safekeeping of the library or libraries. 



35^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 393 Duties of secretary. The secretary has charge of the rooms, books, 
papers and documents of the board, except such as pertain to the office and 
duties of the superintendent. He must perform such duties as may be required 
of him by the board, its committees or members. He has the right to administer 
oaths and take acknowledgments, but without fee. He is the clerk of the board, 
and must keep or cause to be kept a record of the proceedings thereof. He must 
also keep, or cause to be kept, a set of records, showing the receipts and expendi- 
tures of the board. Said expenditures must be subdivided so as to show the cost 
of maintaining each school separately and the supplies used therein. He must 
also keep or cause to be kept a series of receipts, to be signed by either the prin- 
cipals or janitors, certifying to all repairs and improvements made and all sup- 
plies received for the respective school buildings and premises. The printed 
record of the board, or a transcript thereof, certified by the president, or secre- 
tary, is presumptive evidence of all the facts therein set forth, and such records. 
and all the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the board must at all times be 
subject to the inspection of the common council and of any committee thereof. 

§ 394 Qualifications of superintendent. No person is eligible to be appointed 
as superintendent, unless he is a graduate of a college or university recognized by 
the Regents of the State of New York, and has had at least ten years' successful 
experience as a practical educator. 

§ 395 Powers and duties of superintendent. The superintendent has power, 
and it is his duty to enforce the laws of the State applicable to the public schools 
of the city and all the rules and regulations of the board, except as herein pro- 
vided. He must visit the schools of the city as often as he can consistently with 
his other duties, and inquire into the character of the instruction, management and 
discipline, and advise and encourage the officers, teachers and pupils thereof. He 
must prescribe, subject to the rules of the board and the provisions herein, suit- 
able registers, blanks, forms and regulations for making all reports and for con- 
ducting all necessary business connected with the school system, and he must 
cause the same, with such information and instruction as he deems conducive to 
the proper organization and government of the schools to be transmitted to the 
persons entrusted with the execution of the same. He must report to the board 
from time to time as he may be required or deem necesssary, a statement of the 
condition of the schools and all such matters relating to his office, and such plans 
and suggestions for the improvement of the schools and for the advancement of 
public instruction in the city, as he may deem expedient. He must recommend 
the number of teachers necessary for each of the several schools. He may, when- 
ever occasion requires, and unless otherwise directed by the board, appoint supply 
teachers and assign them to duty, and he may temporarily transfer principals, 
teachers and pupils from one school to another. It is his duty to maintain proper 
discipline in the management and conduct of the schools, and he may in his dis- 
cretion suspend or expel any pupil guilty of misconduct or insubordination, and 
may suspend for cause any teacher, principal or employee. He must immediately 
report such suspension to the board. It is his duty to report to the board in- 



EDUCATION CODE 357 

efficiency on the part of principals, teachers and employees. He must nominate 
an assistant superintendent, special teachers and supervisors. He must enforce 
the compulsory education law and direct truant officers in the discharge of their 
duties. 

§ 396 Powers of principals. A principal under the general supervision of the 
superintendent, has the direction of the school over which he is placed, and the 
assignment of teachers to their respective grades in the school, and he must direct 
them as to methods of instruction and discipline. He may suspend any teacher for 
a definite time for inefficiency or insubordination, and he must immediately re- 
port such suspension and the reasons therefor to the superintendent. 

§ 397 Duties of supervising architect. It is the duty of the supervising 
architect, subject to the rules and regulations of the board, to inspect school build- 
ings, prepare plan and specifications for new buildings, annexes and repairs, and 
to supervise the construction and making thereof. 

§ 398 Qualifications of examiner. No person is eligible to be appointed 
as examiner, unless he is a graduate of a college or university recognized by the 
Regents of the State of New York, and has had at least five years' successful ex- 
perience in teaching since graduation, or unless he has a state certificate and 
has had at least ten years' successful experience in teaching since obtaining such 
certificate. No principal or teacher in the public schools in the city is eligible 
to appointment as examiner. 

§ 399 Board of examiners. The board of examiners consists of the super- 
intendent and two examiners, and it is its duty to examine all applicants for 
positions as principals or teachers in the pubhc schools of the city, and to prepare 
an eligible list of such applicants as they may deem qualified, classified as to 
position and graded according to scholarship, character and general fitness. The 
board of examiners must hold such examinations as the superintendent may 
prescribe, and must prepare the eligible list. The superintendent must report 
the eligible list to the board of education, and must also subscribe the same into a 
book, which is open to public inspection. Any name placed upon the eligible list 
is entitled to remain thereon without further examination for the period of two 
years, after which the name is dropped from the list unless otherwise determined 
by the board of examiners. 

§ 400 Qualification of principals and teachers. The superintendent must 
nominate principals for each school from the first ten names certified by the 
board of examiners as qualified for principalship. No person must be appointed 
to the position of principal of high school or grammar school, or to the position 
of teacher of a high school, who has not had two years' successful experience 
as teacher, and who does not possess one of the following qualifications: (a) 
Completion of a four years' course in a college or high school recognized by 
the Regents of the State of New York. (&) Completion of a four years' course 
in a normal school recognized by the State Department of Public Instruction. 
(c) Holder of a life certificate of the State of New York granted upon exam- 
ination. The superintendent and principal of a school constitute a board for 



358 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the nomination of teachers for such school from the first twenty-five names on 
the eligible list for teachers, but no person may be appointed as teacher in a 
grammar school or kindergarten who is not a graduate of a normal school after 
a course of study therein of at least two years, or has not pursued a course in 
pedagogy in a State training school or city training school for one year; except 
that any graduate of the normal course of the Rochester Athenaeum and Me- 
chanics Institute after a course of study therein of at least two years, may be 
appointed as teacher of manual training, domestic science, domestic art, or any 
of the special subjects comprised in the normal course of said institute. The 
board of education must consider such nomination, and upon approval appoint 
the person so nominated. But any principal or teacher in the employ of the 
board of education at the time of the passage of this act is exempt from the 
conditions as to qualifications of eligibility imposed by this act. Any principal 
or teacher who has been appointed is eligible to reappointment without examina- 
tion or certification by the board of examiners. 

§ 401 Permanent appointment of principals and teachers. Any principal or 
teacher who has been appointed to the same school for three successive years may, 
upon the recommendation of the superintendent, be promoted by the board to 
permanent service in such school during good behavior, and thereafter they may 
be suspended or removed as herein provided only for cause and after a hearing. 

§ 402 Suspension and removal of officers and employees. The board may 
suspend any principal or teacher for a definite time, and may for cause remove 
any officer, principal, teacher or employee ; provided, however, that no officer, 
principal or teacher may be removed until opportunity for a hearing at a meeting 
of the board has been given. All suspensions by principals are subject to review 
by the superintendent, and suspensions by the superintendent are subject to re- 
view by the board. Any person suspended is not entitled to salary for time -of 
suspension, unless such suspension is revoked by superior authority. This sec- 
tion does not limit the power of removal of any person holding during the pleasure 
of the board, and does not require any hearing to be had upon a failure to re- 
appoint after the expiration of a term. 

^ 403 Common council may direct sale of school property. Upon recom- 
mendation of the board of education, the sale of schoolhouses, lots or sites, or 
any other school property, may be authorized by ordinance of the common council 
as herein provided in relation to other sales of real property. The proceeds of 
such sale must be paid to the treasurer to the credit of the funds of the depart- 
ment of public instruction. 

§ 404 Public schools free. The public schools are free to all children between 
the ages of 5 and 21 years residing in the city, and the evening schools are free 
to all persons over 14 years of age residing in the city. 

§ 405 Teachers' retirement fund. 

I Trustees. The commissioners of schools, the superintendent of schools, one 
principal and one teacher of the public schools, constitute a board of trustees 
of the teachers retirement fund. In September of every odd numbered year, 



EDUCATION CODE 359 

a meeting of all the principals and teachers of the public schools must be called 
by the superintendent, at which one principal and one teacher then in active 
service shall be chosen to serve for a term of two years on the board of trustees. 

2 Sources of fund. The teachers retirement fund, in addition to the moneys 
therein, consist of : 

a All donations, legacies and gifts made to said fund. 

b Two per centum of the annual salaries respectively paid to the superintend- 
ent of schools, supervisors, principals and teachers regularly employed in the 
public schools of the city, to be deducted by the city treasurer in two semiannual 
instalments and credited to the retirement fund ; except that no deductions are 
to be made from the salaries of the superintendent and supervisors now in office 
who have not become qualified to participate in the benefits of the retirement 
fund ; or from the salaries of superintendents and supervisors hereafter ap- 
pointed who do not within one month after appointment give notice in writing to 
the board of trustees of his or her desire to participate in the benefits of the 
retirement fund. 

c An amount to be paid each year from the funds appropriated by the city of 
Rochester for the department of public instruction, equal to one-half the total 
sum deducted from the salaries of the superintendent, supervisors, principals and 
teachers for that year. The amount thereof must be deducted by the city treas- 
urer in two semiannual instalments and credited to the retirement fund. 

d All moneys which may be obtained from other sources or by other means 
duly and legally devised for the increase of the retirement fund by the board of 
trustees or with their consent. 

3 Payments from fund. No moneys may be paid from the teachers retirement 
fund, until the amount and payment thereof has been approved by a vote of the 
board of trustees. 

4 Retirement on pensions. 

a In case the board of education retires from service or refuses to reappoint 
to service any supervisor, principal or teacher who has served in such capacity 
or capacities for an aggregate period of twenty years if a female, and twenty- 
five years if a male, the person so retired or refused reappointment thereupon 
becomes an annuitant under the retirement fund, provided that not less than 
fifteen years of such service have been performed in the public schools of Roch- 
ester, and in case of a superintendent or supervisor that he or she has become 
entitled to the benefits of the retirement fund. 

b Any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who has served in such 
capacity or capacities for a period of thirty years if a female, or thirty-five years 
if a male, may, with the consent of the board of education retire from service 
and become an annuitant under the retirement fund, provided that not less than 
fifteen years of such service have been performed in the public schools of Roch- 
ester, and in case of a superintendent or supervisor that he or she has become 
entitled to the benefits of the retirement fund. 

c Amount of annuity. An annuity paid from the teachers retirement fund is 
one-half the amount of the annual salary of the annuitant at the time of retirement 



360 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

from service, not exceeding, however, eight hundred dollars. But if the moneys in 
the retirement fund are at any time inadequate to fully pay all annuities payable 
therefrom, the board of trustees may then direct the payment to the persons 
entitled to participate in said fund as near a pro rata amount as in their judgment 
the circumstances will warrant. 

5 Amount of contribution. No person may become an annuitant who has not 
contributed to the teachers retirement fund an amount equal to at least forty 
per centum of his or her annual salary at the time of retirement, but any person 
otherwise qualified may become an annuitant by making a cash payment to the 
retirement fund of such an amount as his or her contributions may have fallen 
short of the required forty per centum. 

6 Refund of contributions. If at any time a superintendent, supervisor, princi- 
pal or teacher who is willing to continue service in the public schools of the city 
is not reemployed or is discharged before the time when he or she would be 
entitled to an annuity, then there must be paid back to such person, without 
interest, all the money which may have been deducted from his or her salary 
for the retirement fund. 

ARTICLE I 

Section 14 Elective officers. The officers elected by the electors of the city 
are : . . . five commissioners of schools. . . . 

§ 16 Qualifications. Every person appointed or elected to office must reside 
in the city at least five months previous to his election or appointment. 

§ 17 Term of office of elective officers. The term of office of each elective 
officer commences on the ist day of January succeeding his election and is for a 
period of two years, except that the term of office of commissioners of schools 
. . . is four years. . . . 

§ 20 Official oath and undertaking. Every officer, before entering upon his 
duties, must file with the city clerk the constitutional oath of office, and if re- 
quired by ordinance of the common council, an undertaking in the amount re- 
quired by such ordinance, approved by the mayor as to the sufficiency of the sure- 
ties and by the corporation counsel as to its form and validity. In case any officer 
fails to file the oath of office or an undertaking if required, within fifteen days 
after the commencement of his term of office, if an elective office, and if an ap- 
pointive office, within fifteen days after he enters upon his duties, his office is 
deemed vacant and the vacancy must be filled as herein provided. The board of 
estimate and apportionment may from time to time authorize the payment by the 
city of the whole or any part of the annual premium for the undertaking of the 
city treasurer. {As amended by L. ipio, ch. 2^0.) 

§ 21 Fixed salaries. The annual salary of . . . each commissioner of 
schools, twelve hundred dollars ; . . . 

§ 22 Power to authorize expenditures. . . . the separate boards provided 
for in this act or otherwise by law . . . are empowered to authorize expendi- 
tures of money in their respective departments. . . . Such power to author- 



EDUCATION CODE 361 

ize expenditures of money is subject to the methods and limitations otherwise 
imposed by this act or by law as to the expenditure of money. 

§ 23 Expenditures in excess of appropriations prohibited. No board is 
permitted during any fiscal year to expend or contract to be expended any money, 
or to enter into any contract which by its terms involves the expenditures of 
money in excess of the amounts appropriated in the annual estimate adopted by 
the common council or otherwise lawfully added thereto for such . . . board. 
. . . Any officer of the city making or voting for any contract prohibited by 
this section, or certifying any account or claim or making any requisition pro- 
hibited thereby, is guilty of a misdemeanor. 

§ 24 Additional fees or compensation not to be paid. No officer of the 
city receiving a stated salary or compensation, except corporation counsel, may 
have or receive to his use any prerequisites, compensation or fees for services 
pertaining directly or indirectly or which may hereafter be added to the duties 
of his office, in addition to his salary; . . . 

§ 25 Officers not to be interested in contracts. Every officer and employee 
of the city is prohibited from being interested, directly or indirectly, in any 
contract to which the city is a party, either as principal, surety or otherwise; 
or in any purchase from or sale to the city, ... 

§ 26 Restrictions as to holding office. No person may at the same time 
hold more than one city office, and upon the acceptance of a second office the 
first office becomes vacant. ... 

§ 28 Estimates of departments. On or before the ist day of November 
in each year all heads of departments . . . must furnish to the mayor 
estimates in writing of the amount required for expenditures for the next fiscal 
year . . . provided, however, that the estimate of the department of public 
instruction must be submitted on or before the 31st day of December in each 
year. 

§ 29 Annual reports. All heads of departments, boards, . . . empow- 
ered to authorize expenditures of money, must present to the mayor, on or 
before the 31st day of December in each year, a report of their proceedings 
during the current year. 

§ 30 Vacancies. Vacancies in elective offices arising otherwise than by ex- 
piration of term are filled as follows: . . . if in the office of . . - 
commissioner of schools, it is filled by appointment by the mayor for the unex- 
pired term ; . . . 

§ 31 Resignations. Resignations of elective officers must be made and pre- 
sented to the mayor, ... 

ARTICLE IV 

§ 62 Annual estimate. Within forty-five days after the commencement of 
each fiscal year the board of estimate and apportionment must make an itemized 
statement in writing of the estimated revenues and expenditures of the city for 
the fiscal year. The estimate of expenditures must contain an estimate of the 
several amounts of money which the board of estimate and apportionment 



362 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

deems necessary to provide for the following departments, . . . department 
of public instruction, . . . also the amounts of money required to be paid 
into sinking funds, the money required for interest on bonds. . . . The 
estimate of expenditures for the department of public instruction must not be 
less than a sum equal to twenty-five dollars per capita, based on the total number 
of persons enrolled as pupils in the public schools for the year ending on the 
preceding 31st day of December. After the annual estimate has been com- 
pleted, the board of estimate and apportionment must submit the same in final 
form to the common council, with a statement in writing of such reasons for 
such estimate as it may deem proper. {As amended by L. 191 4, ch. 342.) 

§ 63 Annual appropriations. . . . When any moneys or revenues are re- 
ceived by the . . . [board of education] from any source other than by 
municipal tax and which are not otherwise appropriated or directed by law to 
be applied, such moneys or revenue may be used and applied toward and in 
addition to the funds appropriated as aforesaid, in such manner as the board 
of estimate and apportionment may direct. 

§ 64 Emergency fund. The board of estimate and apportionment may 
create in any department, bureau, board, court or office for which moneys are 
appropriated in the annual estimate, from the moneys so appropriated, an 
emergency fund not exceeding the sum of one thousand dollars, which sum 
may be expended by the board or officer empowered to authorize expenditures, 
subject to such rules and regulations therefor as the board of estimate and 
apportionment may make ; and claims must thereafter be presented for the 
moneys so expended, and audited in the same manner as other claims, and when 
so audited the moneys must be repaid into said fund; provided, however, that 
the balance therein at the end of the year must be applied as are other unex- 
pended balances of the department, bureau, board, court or office. {As 
amended by L. ipii, ch. 384.) 

§ 90 Ordinance for acquisition of real estate for school purposes. When- 
ever the board of education reports to the common council that it is unable to 
purchase real estate, rights or easements deemed necessary by it for school pur- 
poses, the common council may pass an ordinance containing a description of 
the real estate, rights or easements to be acquired, and declaring its intention 
to acquire the same, and that it deems the same necessary for municipal pur- 
poses, and directing the corporation counsel to institute condemnation proceed- 
ings for the acquirement of the same. 

§ 94 Power to establish playgrounds. The common council has power by 
ordinance to locate and establish playgrounds, and to determine that a small 
park or square, or a part thereof, may be used for other than park purposes, 
and to thereupon place it or such part thereof under the control of the proper 
department, board or office. 

j5 96 Issue of bonds and notes. The common council has power from time 
to time to borrow money for city purposes and to cause to be issued therefor, 
in amounts designated by it, notes of the city signed as directed by it and run- 



EDUCATION CODE 363 

ning for a period not exceeding eight months, and bearing interest at a rate 
fixed by the common council, or at its option by competition, not exceeding the 
legal rate of interest per annum, and bonds of the city, signed by the mayor 
and treasurer, sealed with the corporate seal and countersigned by the comp- 
troller, and at the option of the common council, by a transfer agent designated 
by it, payable and transferable at such places as the common council may desig- 
nate, running for a period or different periods determined by the common 
council not exceeding thirty years, bearing interest at a rate fixed by the com- 
mon council not exceeding the legal rate of interest per annum; such notes and 
bonds to be sold under the direction of the comptroller, after competition, upon 
sealed proposals, at not less than par. The common council has power to create 
a sinking fund for the redemption of bonds herein authorized, and to provide 
that there must be deposited therein annually fixed sums or percentages of the 
appropriations or revenues of the department, board, bureau or office for the 
benefit of which the bonds are issued; or it may provide that a certain sum 
must be raised annually by taxes and added to such sinking fund; or it may 
provide other means of paying or redeeming the bonds at maturity, or it may 
redeem the same by the issue of new bonds ; or it may issue the same without 
creating a sinking fund, or making other provisions for the redemption thereof. 
The provisions of any general law or special law do not apply to the issuance 
and sale of the notes and bonds herein authorized. (As amended by L. igio, 
ch. 250; L. igi2, ch. 55.) 

§ 105 Adoption of annual estimate. The common council must, as soon as 
possible, after receiving the annual estimate, convene and consider the same and 
give a public hearing to all persons wishing to be heard in reference thereto. The 
common council must not increase any item contained therein, but has power to 
diminish or reject any item contained therein, except those relating to 
indebtedness, judgments or estimated revenues; provided, however, that the 
items for the department of public instruction must not be reduced to less than 
a sum equal to twenty-five dollars per capita, based on the total number of persons 
enrolled as pupils in the public schools for the year ending on the preceding 31st 
day of December. After the public hearing and within thirty days after the 
annual estimate has been submitted to it, the common council must adopt the same 
as submitted or as amended by it, and enter it upon its minutes. 

§ 142 Claims against city must be audited. Except as otherwise provided 
in this act in relation to claims for damages and injuries, all claims against the 
city must be presented to and audited by the comptroller before payment. 

§ 143 Form and audit of claims. Claims must be filed with the comptroller 
in the name of the person, firm or corporation presenting the same, in the form 
prescribed by the comptroller, verified by or on behalf of the claimant and ap- 
proved by the head of the department, president of the board, judge of the court, 
or officer whose action gave rise or origin to the claim ; . . . 

§ 156 High school sinking fund. The high school sinking fund is contmued 
with the moneys contained therein. There must be added thereto each year until 



364 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the high school bonds are paid and redeemed the balance remaining unexpended at 
the end of the fiscal year of the moneys appropriated for the department of public 
instruction and of school moneys appropriated to or provided for the city of 
Rochester; and if the sum so unexpended does not amount to thirty thousand 
dollars in any year, then the treasurer of the city of Rochester must transfer to 
said fund from the moneys appropriated the succeeding fiscal year for the depart- 
ment of public instruction, a sum which, with such unexpended balance, will equal 
the sum of thirty thousand dollars. 

§ 157 School sinking fund. For the purpose of providing a school sinking 
fund to pay and redeem school bonds now or hereafter issued, authorized by chap- 
ter 549 of the Laws of 1906, the treasurer must, in the year 191 1 and in each year 
thereafter until said fund contains a sum sufficient to pay and redeem such bonds, 
take from the moneys appropriated for the department of public instruction, the 
sum of twenty-five thousand dollars and credit the same to the school sinking 
fund. 

§ 149 Management of teachers retirement fund. The comptroller, under the 
direction of the board of trustees of the teachers retirement fund, has the invest- 
ment and management thereof, and may, with the approval of the board of 
trustees, invest the moneys thereof in bonds and notes of the city and other 
securities. 

§ 163 Custodian of pension funds. The treasurer is the custodian of the 
police pension fund, fire pension fund, and teachers retirement fund; and all 
pensions granted in pursuance of the provisions of this act and payable from any 
of said funds must be paid out on a check or draft signed by the treasurer and 
countersigned by the comptroller. 



ROME 

Chapter 650, Laws of 1904 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Rome 

TITLE XIII 
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

199 The public schools within the corporation tax district, of the city, as now 
or hereafter constituted and bounded, including all the territory and residents 
within such tax district, shall constitute one union free school district and be 
known as the union free schools of the city of Rome, and be under the charge 
and control of six commissioners of schools, who shall constitute the board of 
education thereof. 

200 The schools, territory and residents, outside said corporation tax district 
shall continue to be or become independent school districts to be managed and 
controlled according to the Consolidated School Law and amendments, supple- 
mental or substituted acts thereto and thereof, in all respects as in towns, and 
shall be subject to the jurisdiction of and have the same relation to the com- 
missioner of schools of the third district of Oneida county and the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction as the said law may provide or require, and the resi- 
dents of said district arrange. That portion of the said city lying outside of said 
tax district and which now is a part of said union free school district shall hence- 
forth become a part of such independent district. 

201 The title of all school property, real and personal, in such tax district, 
shall be vested in the city. ,, 

202 All provisions of title 8 of the Consolidated School Law and all those of 
the University Law of the State now in force, and as hereafter amended and the 
substitutes thereof, and the powers, duties and liabilities therein, relating to union 
free school districts and trustees, shall apply to said city schools and board of 
education, so far as applicable or requisite to carry out the purposes hereof, ex- 
cept as herein otherwise provided or as inconsistent herewith. Title 5 of this 
act not inconsistent with, shall be applicable to this title. 

203 The present board of education shall continue, and the members thereof, 
hold for the respective terms as now classified and existing to which they were 
elected, and until their successors are elected and duly qualified, except as here- 
inafter mentioned. 

204 On the second Tuesday of October in each year, or if that day shall pass 
without an election, on such subsequent day and at such place as the board of 
education shall appoint an election of members of the board of education whose 
terms will in that year expire, shall be held under the direction of the members 
of said board designated by the board and by the votes of electors of said district 
in said citv having the qualifications of voters for trustees of school districts. 

[365I 



366 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Two poll clerks shall be appointed by said board to register at such election the 
names and residents^ of the voters voting thereat. The polls shall be kept open 
during the hours which the board shall prescribe and the election to be conducted 
in the same manner as elections for trustees, and a certificate of the result thereof 
shall be made and signed by the members of the board presiding thereat, and filed 
in the office of the city clerk. At every such election two members of the board of 
education shall be chosen for the term of three years from the second Tuesday 
of October, on which the terms of their predecessors expire. Any vacancy exist- 
ing in the board at the time of any such election shall be filled thereat by an 
election for the unexpired term. Any person qualified to vote at such election 
shall be qualified to become a member of such board. In case of the death or 
resignation of any member of said board the vacancy may be filled by the board 
until the next regular school election and until his successor shall qualify. No 
person shall vote at any such election of members of the board of education, 
unless a resident within said corporation tax district. 

205 The board of education shall have power to choose a superintendent of 
schools, whose term of office shall be one year, but who shall be subject to re- 
moval by said board at any time for cause. Such superintendent shall be paid 
such compensation and perform such duties as the board may prescribe. 

206 Detailed estimates of the amounts so required to be raised shall be fur- 
nished to the common council and filed with the city clerk as in section 148 of 
this act provided. In case the common council shall ratify the estimates of ex- 
penditures so submitted, the amount of such estimates shall constitute the sum 
to be raised for the school board by taxation for the current fiscal year; the 
common council may modify any item of the estimates for expenditures so sub- 
mitted, and in such case it shall be the duty of the city clerk to forthwith certify 
to the president of the board of education such modifications ; the board of edu- 
cation shall have power by the vote of two-thirds of all the members thereof at 
any regular or special meeting called for that purpose, to declare by resolution 
that the estimated amounts first submitted to the common council, or a less sum, 
are necessary for the conduct of the schools for the current year ; and it shall 
be the duty of the city clerk to forthwith certify such resolution to the president 
of the common council, in which case it shall be the duty of the common council 
to raise the amounts so determined for the purposes of the public schools. In 
case the board of education shall fail to adopt such original estimates, or a less 
sum, as above provided, the amounts so modified by the common council shall 
constitute the amount to be raised for school purposes for the current year. 
Thereupon the same shall be levied and collected by the common council in the 
same manner as city taxes as provided in this act. But if such estimates in any 
year shall include five thousand dollars or more for the purchase, erection, en- 
largement, alteration or repair of any grounds or buildings or either, or if at any 
time during the year such board of education may deem it necessary to expend 
in addition to the amount of such estimates any moneys for any purpose or pur- 

^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 367 

poses, the board of education may propose to the common council that such 
amounts, or any part thereof, as it may propose be borrowed upon the bonds 
of said union free school district of the city, and the questions of the raising of 
said amount so proposed to be raised shall be submitted at a special election to be 
called therefor by the board of education to the taxpayers of the city ; the said 
election to be called and conducted by said board of education in the manner, and 
to follow, so far as applicable, the provisions of section 175 of this act relative 
to special elections for extraordinary expenditures, excepting that in case bonds 
shall be issued by board of education they shall be the bonds of such union free 
school district, of the city of Rome, and be signed by the president of the board 
of education and sealed with the seal of said board for the principal amount so 
proposed to be borrowed by bonds. Except as above provided the board of 
education shall not have power to expend any money in addition to the amount 
finally determined, as aforesaid, by such estimates unless authorized so to do by 
special election in the manner herein provided. Nothing in this act shall be 
deemed to restrict the power of the board of education to expend for lawful pur- 
poses of said schools the moneys received by said board, of the city, from the 
State. All moneys raised by taxes and received from all other sources for school 
purposes shall be paid to the city treasurer and placed in a separate fund to be 
known as a school fund and used only for such purposes. {As amended by L. 
ipoj, ch. 468.) 

§ 207 Said board of education shall yearly and whenever required so to do by 
the common council, make and deliver to the common council a detailed statement 
showing and accounting for all moneys that have been received and expended 
by or through said board since the date of their last preceding report thereof 
to the common council. 

§ 208 A school tax of the city of Rome for school purposes within the corpora- 
tion tax district may be assessed hy the common council and its warrant issued 
for the collection of same. The city clerk shall make out the assessment roll 
and apportion the tax and make a copy thereof for the city treasurer, and all the 
provisions in relation to the assessment and collection of city taxes, and the 
return of the same, shall so far as applicable, apply to the school tax. 



SALAMANCA 

Chapter 507, Laws of 1913 
An act to incorporate the city of Salamanca 

TITLE XI 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 127 City, permanent school district 

128 Commissioners of education 

129 Succession of property and obligations 

130 Superintendent of schools 

131 General powers and duties of president 

132 Clerk and his general duties 

133 General powers of the commissioners of education 

134 Powers of commissioners of education to raise tax for support of schools 

135 Payment of funds to comptroller 

136 Powers of commissioners of education to purchase sites or addition to any site 

or erect or enlarge any school building 

137 Annual report of commissioners of education 

138 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State moneys 

139 Common council shall pass ordinance for protection of school property 

140 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any commissioner of education 

141 Report of superintendent of schools 

142 District a union free school district 

Section 127 City, permanent school district. The said city shall form a 
permanent school district and shall not be subject to alteration by the district 
superintendent of common schools. Said school district shall be known as union 
free school district number 4 of the city of Salamanca. Such district shall be 
entitled to all the rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits 
conferred upon school districts by law or other State authority, and shall, except 
as otherwise provided in this act, be subject to all the rules, regulations, powers 
of inspection and superintendence prescribed by law applicable to school districts 
in cities. 

§ 128 Commissioners of education. The affairs of said school district of 
the city of Salamanca shall be managed by a board of seven members, to be 
elected in the manner provided in this act, which board shall be known and desig- 
nated as the " commissioners of education of the city of Salamanca." Said 
board and its successors shall possess all the powers conferred, and discharge all 
the duties imposed by this act, or by any general law of this State. 

§ 129 Succession of property and obligations. The title to all the real estate 
and personal property now belonging to union free school district number 4 
and school district number 5 of the town of Salamanca and school district num- 
ber I of the town of Great Valley, or so much thereof as may be included within 
the bounds of the city of Salamanca, and equitably proportioned between said 

[368] 



EDUCATION CODE 369 

city and said school districts as hereinafter provided, and all moneys and funds 
belonging thereto, and so proportioned, shall be paid over and delivered to the 
comptroller of said city, and credited by him to the school fund of said city. 
All the rights, powers, privileges, contracts, obligations and liabilities of said 
school districts, or so much thereof as are included within the bounds of said 
city and which may be equitably proportioned as aforesaid, are hereby transferred 
to, vested in, and imposed upon said commissioners of education of the city of 
Salamanca as hereby created, and the rights and privileges of all persons that 
may have arisen or accrued prior to the passage of this act shall remain and be 
enforced by and against said commissioners of education of the city of Sala- 
manca, and its successors in the same manner, and with like effect, as the same 
might have been enforced by and against the board of education of union free 
school district number 4 and school district number 5 of the town of Salamanca 
and school district number i of the town of Great Valley, if this act had not been 
passed, subject, however, to the equitable proportionments thereof as hereinafter 
provided, and subject to the provisions of this act. 

§ 130 Superintendent of schools. The said commissioners of education, not 
later than the ist of May subsequent to their election, and in each year there- 
after, shall appoint a superintendent of schools for the term of one year; such 
superintendent shall be under the direction of the said commissioners of edu- 
cation, which shall prescribe his powers and duties; he shall be paid from the 
teachers fund a salary, to be fixed by the commissioners of education. 

§ 131 General powers and duties of president. The president of the com- 
missioners of education shall preside over meetings of the board when present, 
and perform such executive acts and duties as is required by this act and general 
laws, and such other lawful business as shall be given him or her in charge by 
said board. 

§ 132 Clerk and his general duties. The city clerk shall be clerk of the 
commissioners of education, and shall act as secretary and keep the minutes of 
said board, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by this act 
and the general school laws of the State, and such other duties as the board 
may prescribe. 

§ 133 General powers of the commissioners of education. Subject to the 
provisions of this act and of the Education Law, the commissioners of education 
of the city of Salamanca shall have power and it shall be its duty : 

1 To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools as said 
board shall deem requisite and expedient, and to change or discontinue the same 
at its discretion. 

2 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as it may 

deem advisable. 

3 To purchase, sell or exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages and to defray the necessary expenses attending the 

same. 

4 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildmgs, lots, out- 



370 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

houses, books, furniture and appendages and to see that the ordinances and by- 
laws of said city in regard thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof pun- 
ished. 

5 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers for the schools of the 
city under such conditions, rules and regulations as may be established by the 
board, provided that such rules and regulations are in accord with the Education 
Law of the State and the rules and regulations established by the Department of 
Public Instruction of the State. 

6 To audit the salaries of superintendents of schools and teachers which shall 
be paid by the city comptroller from the school fund upon the order of the 
president and clerk of said board. 

7 To determine the necessary expenses of the board and district, including 
the wages of janitors and other assistants and employees and incidental expenses, 
which shall be paid, as above provided. 

8 To audit expenditure of all moneys, raised by virtue of this act, for pur- 
chasing sites, erecting or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such 
a manner as may be deemed advisable, but only for the purposes for which the 
same was raised. 

9 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor in the same manner and 
under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act, and as conferred upon the 
board of public works for opening of streets and highways. 

10 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction and the Regents of the University of this State, the 
entire supervision and mianagement of the schools of said city : from time to time, 
to adopt, alter, modify, or repeal, as it may deem expedient, rules and regula- 
tions for its organization, government, and instruction for the reception of pupils 
and their transfer from one schoolroom or schoolhouse to another, for their 
advancement from class, to class as their degree of scholarship shall warrant, and 
generally to promote the good order, efficiency and prosperity of all the schools of 
the city, and the health and general welfare of the pupils. 

11 To allow the children or persons nonresident to attend any of the schools 
therein under the control of the said board, as provided by the Education Law 
of the State. 

12 To establish and maintain a city school library and provide suitable rooms 
for the use of the same ; to exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of 
the moneys provided by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the 
inhabitants of school districts, and to appoint a librarian and fix his compensation. 

13 Other than as provided by this act, to exercise all the powers conferred 
upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

14 Other than as provided in this act, to exercise all the powers conferred and 
all the duties imposed by the general laws of the State applicable to boards of 
education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said board, or a transcript 
thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be received in all courts or 
places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 



EDUCATION CODE 37 1 

§ 134 Powers of commissioners of education to raise tax for support of 
schools. On or before the 15th day of October in each year, the said com- 
missioners of education shall prepare a statement of such sums of money as it 
shall deem necessary during the fiscal year commencing with the ist day of 
January next ensuing for eacli of the following purposes: 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers, after applying such of the public 
school and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

2 For the maintenance of a high school, if one shall have been established, 
and the payment of the teachers thereof after applying such of the public school 
and other moneys as may be applicable thereto. 

3 For the repair of schoolhouses, outhouses and grounds with the appendages 
and appurtenances. 

4 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

5 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay contingent expenses of the 
district, including the salaries of janitors, assistants, employees and incidental 
expenses. 

Before the meeting of the commissioners of education at which aforesaid 
statement is prepared, the said commissioners of education shall give to the 
mayor official notice thereof and the mayor shall attend said meeting and be 
accorded the right of inquiry into all the items of said statement and all the 
privileges in said meeting of the members of said board, except the privilege of 
voting. Whenever the commissioners of education shall finally have determined 
on the statement of expenses itemized as heretofore indicated, it shall present 
the same to the mayor or acting mayor of the city of Salamanca. If the mayor 
or acting mayor approves such statement he shall sign it, and immediately file the 
same with the city clerk ; if he does not approve any item therein he shall within 
ten days return the statement with his objection indorsed thereon or annexed 
thereto to the commissioners of education. Said board shall then proceed to 
reconsider such statement, and if two-thirds of the members then in office agree to 
sustain the statement as made, it shall stand as if it had been approved by the 
mayor, and shall be immediately filed with the city clerk. If two-thirds of the 
members of said board do not agree to sustain the statement as made, it shall be 
modified so as to conform to the views expressed by the mayor in his objection 
and he shall then sign it and file it with the city clerk. When such statement is 
filed with the city clerk the common council of said city shall include in the annual 
tax and assessment roll for that year the amount specified in said statement and 
the same shall be collected by the city comptroller, who shall credit the same 
to the general school fund of the commissioners of education. 

§ 135 Payment of funds to comptroller. All public moneys or public funds 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said school district number 4 of the city 
of Salamanca, shall be paid to the comptroller of said city, who shall keep the 
same separate from the general funds of the city and shall credit to the school 
fund the moneys or property belonging thereto. The commissioners of educa- 
tion shall disburse, after due audit, all the school funds of said district by orders 



372 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

upon the comptroller signed by the president and clerk; said orders shall be 
numbered consecutively and shall specify the purpose for which they are drawn 
and the person to whom payable. Upon request from said board, the comp- 
troller shall certify, from time to time, the balance remaining to be collected by or 
paid to the city comptroller for school purposes ; it shall not be lawful for said 
comptroller to apply such moneys, or any part thereof, to any other purpose or 
object. 

§ 136 Powers of commissioners of education to purchase sites, or addition 
to any site or erect or enlarge any school building. Whenever the commis- 
sioners of education shall resolve by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of its 
members that it is necessary to purchase a site or addition to any site, or erect 
any school building or enlarge any school building already erected, it shall specify 
in such resolution the ward within which such site is to be purchased or building 
erected or enlarged and the particular sum required for each separately. The 
commissioners of education shall then deliver a certified copy of such resolution 
to the mayor who shall, within thirty days of the receipt of such resolution, call 
a special election of the electors of said city to vote for or against such- appro- 
priations as the proposed expenditures will impose. Said election shall be con- 
ducted and the result declared and certified pursuant to the provisions and 
manner prescribed for conducting special elections provided elsewhere in this 
act. In case three-fifths or sixty per centum or more of the votes cast be in 
favor of any said appropriations, the common council shall borrow upon the faith 
and credit of said city, the aggregate of the items having such majority, or any 
part thereof, at any time before and until the same can be provided for according 
to law. The common council shall issue bonds or other evidence of indebtedness, 
in such forms as it may prescribe at an annual rate of interest not exceeding five 
per centum, and payable at such times and in such amounts as the common 
council shall determine. Said bonds or any part thereof may be sold by the 
common council in such a manner as it may deem best, but at not less than the 
par value thereof. The commissioners of education, after completing the work 
or other objects for which said money may have been raised, may apply any 
unexpended balance that may remain to any object authorized or contemplated 
by this act. 

§ 137 Annual report of commissioners of education. It shall be the duty 
of the commissioners of education, on or before the loth day of January in each 
year, to make to the common council of the city a detailed report of the manner 
in which it shall have expended the money provided for and appropriated to 
school purposes from any source during the last fiscal year of the said com- 
missioners of education ; and such report shall be published by the common 
council in connection with, and as a part of, the annual report of the financial 
transactions of the city, which they are required by law to have printed and 
circulated. 

§ 138 State Superintendent of Public Instruction to apportion State 
moneys. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 



EDUCATION CODE 373 

this State to apportion for the use of the said commissioners of education of the 
city of Salamanca, such portions of the school, school library and other public 
money as it shall be entitled to by its annual report, in the same manner in which 
such moneys are apportioned to cities, and the amounts to which it shall be so 
entitled shall be certified to the county treasurer of Cattaraugus county. The 
said county treasurer of Cattaraugus county shall pay over to the city comptroller 
of the city of Salamanca, for the use of the commissioners of education of said 
city, such proportion of the school, school library and other public money as may 
be apportioned by law or by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the 
State to the commissioners of education of the city of Salamanca for teachers' 
wages, school library and other school purposes. 

§ 139 Common council shall pass ordinances for protection of school prop- 
erty. The common council of the city of Salamanca shall have the power, and 
it shall be its duty, to pass such ordinances and by-laws as the commissioners of 
education of said city shall report necessary for protection, safekeeping, care 
and preservation of the school buildings and other school property of said district, 
and to impose such penalties for the violation of the same as it shall deem 
proper. 

§ 140 Charges of misconduct or neglect of duty of any commissioner of 
education. Charges of misconduct, or violation or neglect of duty, on the part 
of any member of the commissioners of education, may be presented to said 
board by any member thereof, or by any elector of the city of Salamanca, and 
such charges shall be duly examined by such board, at a regular or special meet- 
ing, of which the accused member shall have at least five days' notice, but at 
which meeting said accused member shall not be entitled to vote. If at such 
meeting, after hearing the evidence on both sides, said board shall deem the 
charges against the member sustained, then all the papers and documents in 
the case, with a transcript of the proceedings of the meeting, shall be transmitted 
by the clerk of the commissioners of education to the Superintendent of Public 
Instruction of the State, and upon his approval of the findings of the board, 
the accused member shall be removed and his place deemed vacant. All va- 
cancies in the commissioners of education, occasioned by the resignation, refusal 
to serve, death or removal of any of its members, shall be filled for the unexpired 
term by appointment by the mayor, subject to confirmation by the common 

council. 

§ 141 Report of superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools 
of' the city of Salamanca shall confer with, and act under the direction of the 
commissioners of education of said city in the performance of his duties. He 
shall, subject to the direction of said board, have general control and supervision 
of the pubhc schools in said city and of the teachers employed therein and shall 
on or before the ist day of July in each year, or at such other time or times, 
as shall be required by said board, report in writing to the commissioners of edu- 
cation on the following subjects: 

I The whole number of schools within the jurisdiction of the commissioners 
of education, their cleanliness and their sanitary condition. 



374 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

2 The repairs or alterations, if any, that are necessary for each of said 
schools. 

3 The condition of the school furniture, apparatus and books in the several 
schools, and the repairs and additions thereto that may be necessary. 

4 The number of teachers employed in the several schools, their grade of 
work, and their efificiency, with suggestions as to the increase or decrease in the 
number thereof. 

5 The number of pupils registered at each school, the average daily attendance 
and also the number of pupils enrolled in each grade in the several schools. 

6 Such changes in the organization and curriculum of any or all of the schools 
as he may deem advisable. 

7 Such other information in relation to the city schools as may be of interest 
to the people of Salamanca. 

§ 142 District a union free school district. The said district shall be 
deemed and is hereby declared to be a union free school district under the laws 
of this State relating to public instruction. All provisions of law, not inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act, applicable to school districts whose limits correspond 
with any incorporated city, and the board of education therein, and the corporate 
authority of such cities are made applicable to the school district hereby estab- 
lished, and to the commissioners of education thereof and to the corporate au- 
thorities of the city of Salamanca. 



SARATOGA SPRINGS 

Chapter 229, Laws of 1915 
An act to incorporate the city of Saratoga Springs 
Section 120 The pubHc schools within the inside tax district shall be counted 
one school diistrict. Such school district shall be governed and controlled in all 
respects by chapter 353 of the Laws of 1862. Such district shall be known as 
" The union free school district of the city of Saratoga Springs " ; and said 
school district, for the purposes of the apportionment and distribution of school 
money which, from any source collected or received, shall be a school district 
under the general school laws of the State. The board of education of said 
school district shall certify the amount or amounts needed for the support of the 
schools within such corporation tax district in the same manner as the other 
departments of said city of Saratoga Springs. The school districts outside of 
said corporation tax district shall be under the same supervision and control as 
the other common schools in Saratoga county, and they shall be under the control 
of the general school laws of the State as in towns. 



Chapter 353, Lav^rs of 1867 

An act to consolidate the several school districts and parts of districts within 

the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, and to establish a 

free union school or schools therein 

Section i All school districts or parts of school districts within the corporate 
limits of the village of Saratoga Springs, in the county of Saratoga, are hereby 
consolidated into one school district, to be called the " Union free school district 
of Saratoga Springs," and said school district, for the purpose of the appor- 
tionment and distribution of school money which, from any source may be 
collected or received, shall be a school district under the general school laws of 
the State. 

§ 2 The school or schools in said school district shall be under the management 
and control of nine trustees, being taxable inhabitants of said district, wHho 
shall be denominated " The board of education of the union free school of the 
village of Saratoga Springs"; and said board is hereby constituted a body 
corporate, with all the powers conferred and duties enjoined upon them by this 
act, and shall have a corporate seal such as said board may designate. The first 
board of education under this act shall be constituted as follows: Oliver L. 
Barbour, James B. McKean and John Shipman, as trustees of the first class, 
whose term of service shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of October, 1868; 
Joseph A. Shoudy, Thomas Flanigan and Aaron Hill, as trustees of the second 
class, whose term of service shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of October, 1869, 
John Woodbridge, John Palmer and Charles S. Lester as trustees of the third 

[375] 



3/6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

class, whose term of service shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of October, 
1870. And thereafter the term of service of the class which has served the 
longest period, shall expire on the fourth Tuesday of Oceober in each year. 
The trustees of the village of Saratoga Springs shall order a special election, 
to be holden on the second Tuesday of October in each year, except the year 
1867, at one of the schoolhouses, under the inspection of said trustees, to elect 
three trustees as members of said board of education, at which election any 
vacancies that may have occurred during the year, may be filled. At said election 
the polls shall be open from ten o'clock a. m. until four o'clock p. m. of that day, 
and only those entitled to vote at the ordinary school elections shall be entitled 
to vote. (As amended by L. 186/, ch. y8/.) 

§ 3 The board of education above named shall hold its first meeting within 
two weeks after the passage of this act, at a time and place to be designated by 
the member of the board first named in the second section of this act. The 
members of the board shall take the usual oath of office, and shall elect a president 
from among their number, who shall hold his office during the pleasure of the 
board. No member of the board shall receive compensation for any official 
service, nor shall he be interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract, pur- 
chase or expenditure which the board at any time may order. 

§ 4 The said board of education shall meet for the transaction of business 
as often as one in each month, and may adjourn for any shorter time. Special 
meetings may be called by the president, or in case of his absence or inability to 
act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by giving personal notice 
to each member of the board, or by causing a written or printed notice to be 
left at his last place of residence, at least twenty-four hours previous to the 
hour appointed for such special meeting. 

§ 5 The title to all the real and personal estate appertaining to the schools 
heretofore mentioned, shall be vested in the board of education, and the same 
shall not be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose whatever. 

§ 6 The board of education shall have power and is hereby directed: 

1 To establish and organize in said village as many and such pubHc schools, 
with graded departments (including an academical department), and schools for 
colored children, as said board may deem requisite and expedient, and to alter 
or discontinue the same at its discretion. 

2 To rent or purchase and prepare such houses or rooms as may be found 
necessary for properly conducting such schools, but no entirely new structure 
designed for the academical department, to be erected until after the expiration 
of three years from the passage of this act. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair any school apparatus, books, 
furniture or appendages, and to defray the expense of the free library. 

4 To have the custody and safe-keeping of all the schoolhouses, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appurtenances, and to see that all the village ordinances 
and rules of the board of education relative thereto are observed. 

5 To contract with and employ all necessary teachers, subject to removal at 
the pleasure of the board. 



EDUCATION CODE '^j'J'J 

6 To provide evening schools for the benefit of those whose ages or avocations 
are such as to prevent their attendance upon the day schools established under 
this act. 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the fund appropriated and pro- 
vided by law for this puipose. 

8 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including the 
wages of janitors. 

9 To expend all moneys raised in accordance with this act for buildings, for 
the purchase of grounds, or for any other purposes for which the same may be 
required, in such manner as they may deem proper. 

10 To have the superintendence and management of the common schools in 
said village, and, from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify or repeal, as they may 
deem expedient, any rules or regulations for the organization, government and 
instruction of said schools, for the reception of pupils, their transfer from one 
department to another, for their advancement from class to class, as their 
degree of scholarship shall warrant, and generally for the promotion of the good 
order, prosperity and public utility of said schools ; and if at any time an academ- 
ical department shall be established by said board, it shall be entitled to its 
distributive share of the literature fund, in like manner and on like conditions 
with the academies of this State and shall be subject to the visitation of the 
Regents of the University, as are the other academies of the State. 

11 To sell and dispose of such real and personal property as may become 
unnecessary for the purpose of conducting said schools, and pay over and 
deliver the proceeds of any such sale or sales to the treasurer of the village of 
Saratoga Springs, as provided by section 8 of this act. {Suhd. ii; as added by 
L. i868, ch. 630.) 

§ 7 It shall be the duty of the board of education, on or before the ist day 
of April in each year, after the year 1867, to determine and certify to the cor- 
porate authorities of the village of Saratoga Springs, what sums are necessary 
under section 6 of this act, exclusive of such moneys as are to be received from 
public funds. These sums shall be raised and collected at the same time and in 
the same manner as other village taxes. And the board of education shall have 
power to raise, when necessary, by loan, in anticipation of the collection of such 
taxes, any sirni required to meet the ordinary expenses of the schools. 

§ 8 The treasurer of the village shall take charge of all moneys raised pur- 
suant to this act or provided for the board of education from any source, and he 
sh^l be accountable for their safe-keeping in the same manner as for the safe- 
keeping of other funds. These moneys shall be paid out by him only on drafts 
drawn by the president of the board of education, and countersigned by the 
secretary, in pursuance of a resolution of the board ; and all drafts shall be made 
payable to the order of the person or persons receiving the same. 

§ 9 The board of education shall elect a secretary, vv^ho shall hold office during 
the pleasure of the board ; but he shall not be removed, except for inefliciency or 
misconduct, without six months' previous notice. The board shall fix his salary, 
and he shall be the superintendent of all the schools under the care of the board. 



378 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

He shall, under the direction of the board, determine the course of studies to be 
pursued in the different schools and shall himself have the personal superin- 
tendence of the highest school established. 

§ 10 The secretary of the board shall report to the board of education, on or 
before the ist day of September in each year, the condition of all the depart- 
ments in the schools, with the number in attendance, the studies pursued, and 
whatever, in his opinion, may be needed to advance the interests of the union 
free school. This report shall also state the number of children within the limits 
of the districts who are in attendance upon private schools and of such as do not 
attend any school. The secretary shall, on or before the ist day of March in 
each year, furnish to the board estimates of the number of teachers needed, and 
of the ordinary expenses to be incurred, for the year following said date. (As 
amended by L. 188 j, ch. 313.) 

§ II Each member of said board shall visit all the schools in said district, at 
least twice in each year of his official term, and said board of education shall pro- 
vide that each of said schools shall be visited by a committee of three or more of 
their number at least once in each term. 

§ 12 The said board of education shall be trustees of the school libraries of 
said district, and all the provisions of law which now exist or hereafter may be 
passed relative to school-district libraries shall apply to said board in the same 
manner as if they were trustees of a school district comprehending said village; 
they shall also be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of moneys 
appropriated by the laws of this State for the purchase of libraries as is con- 
ferred by said law on the inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to 
provide rooms for such libraries, and the necessary furniture therefor. The 
librarian shall report to the board the condition of the libraries under his charge ; 
and the said board, or secretary, under the direction and by the resolution of said 
board, may make all purchases of books for said libraries, and may direct the 
mode of their distribution; and may dispose of any books that may be deemed 
useless, applying the proceeds to the purchase of new ones. 

§ 13 The board of education shall have power to take, hold, sell, transfer and 
convey any of the real or personal estate transferred to it by gift, grant, devise 
or bequest for the benefit of any of the schools under its control, and appropriate 
the avails in scholarships or prizes, or in such other manner as the donor may 
designate. 

§ 14 The clerk of the village shall notify any person elected a member of the 
board of education, within ten days thereafter, of his election, and the secretary 
of the board shall notify him of the time and place of the meeting, at which he 
shall take his place as a member of said board. 

§ 15 The board shall have power to charge a tuition fee for all pupils at- 
tending the high school, but such fees shall not exceed the sum of five dollars per 
term for each pupil residing in the district ; ^ but the board may determine the 
amount of tuition fee for pupils not belonging to the district, in attendance upon 
any of the schools. 



' L. 1867, ch. 406, § 26, abolished all rate bills for teachers' wages. 



EDUCATION CODE 379 

§ i6 The board shall cause to be prepared and presented to the trustees of the 
village, and published in the newspapers in the district, at such time as they may 
direct, a full annual report, stating: 

1 What schools have been kept during the year, and for what time. 

2 The number of children on the roll of each school, and the average at- 
tendance of each ; and the number of children in the district between the ages of 
four years and twenty-one years. 

3 The amount of school moneys received by the treasurer, from what sources, 
and for what purposes expended. 

§ 1/ The trustees of the village of Saratoga Springs are hereby directed and 
empowered, and it shall be their duty, to raise and collect by tax, in the same 
manner as other taxes are collected, such sums as the board of education hereby 
established shall deem needful in order to organize and carry on the schools of the 
district until the time named in section 7 of this act. 

§ 18 The board of education shall meet all liabilities of the trustees of school 
districts numbers i, 2, 8 and 9, in the town of Saratoga Springs, and shall suc- 
ceed to all their rights and rights of action, and nothing in this act shall impair 
their contracts or interfere with or prevent the collection of such tax or rate bill 
as at the time of the passage of this act was in the hands of the collector for 
collection. 

§ 19 This act shall take effect immediately. 



Chapter 787, Laws of 1867 
An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consohdate the several school-districts 
and parts of districts within the corporate limits of the village of Saratoga 
Springs, and to establish a free union school or schools therein " 
§ 2 A majority of the trustees constituting the board of education shall con- 
stitute a quorum for the purpose of organization or the transaction of any busi- 
ness at any of the regular meetings of the said board, and at any special meeting 
when all the trustees have been notified as required by said act. 



Chapter 630, Laws of 1868 
An act to amend an act entitled "An act to consolidate the several school dis- 
tricts and parts of districts within the corporate limits of the village of 
Saratoga Springs, and to establish a Free Union School or schools therein," 
passed April 12, 1867 
§ 2 The board of education shall have power to fill any vacancies which may 
exist or occur by reason of the death, resignation, removal or refusal to act, of 
any member of said board appointed or elected, and the person and persons so 
appointed shall hold such office until the first election succeeding such appoint- 
ment, when such vacancy shall be filled by election in the manner provided by 
section two of said act. 



SCHENECTADY 

Chapter 481, Laws of 1908 
An act to provide for a department of public instruction in the city of 

Schenectady 

Section i Department of public instruction established 

2 Appointment of president and superintendent, et cetera 

3 General powers and duties 

4 Superintendent of schools 

5 Powers and duties of superintendent 

6 Appointment of assistant teachers ; terms of principals 

7 School buildings, repairs, sale and erection of 

8 Public school moneys 

9 Termination of terms of present commissioners 
ID Laws repealed 

Section i Department of public instruction established. A department of 

public instruction in and for the city of Schenectady is hereby established. There 
shall be a board of education, composed of five members, to be called commis- 
sioners of education, who shall be appointed as hereinafter provided, which board 
shall be the head of the department of public instruction. They must have been 
electors of the city for a period of at least five years immediately preceding the 
date of appointment. Within ten days after the passage of this act, the mayor 
shall appoint two commissioners to serve until March i, 1909, and three com- 
missioners to serve until March i, 1910. In the month of February of each year 
preceding the expiration of the term of office of any such commissioner, the mayor 
shall appoint a successor to hold office for a term of two years from and including 
the ist day of March of the year in which he is appointed. In the case of a 
vacancy in the office of commissioner, the mayor shall fill the vacancy by the ap- 
pointment of a commissioner for the remainder of the term. The commissioners 
shall serve without pay. 

§ 2 Appointment of president and superintendent, et cetera. The board 
shall appoint one of its members president, who shall exercise all the powers 
usually incident to such office. It shall also appoint a suitable person other than a 
member thereof, superintendent of schools in the city, who shall exercise the 
powers and discharge the duties hereinafter defined, and shall be allowed such 
compensation for his services as the board of estimate and apportionment may 
at any time determine. It shall also appoint from time to time such other em- 
ployees including teachers and attendance officers as the school system may re- 
quire, except that the janitors of all the school buildings shall be appointed 
by the commissioner of public works, and such janitors shall be subject to his 
immediate direction and control ; the amount of their compensation shall be 
fixed by the board of estimate and apportionment. It has the care, custody and 

[380] 



EDUCATION CODE 38 1 

safekeeping of all school property, real and personal, except as hereinafter pro- 
vided : and shall make rules and regulations for the government of the schools 
and its employees except as to janitors and as hereinafter provided; prescribe 
courses of study and textbooks ; supply the requisite stationery for the use of 
indigent pupils ; provide the several schools with the necessary school apparatus, 
maps and music books, the expense thereof to be defrayed out of the school 
moneys of the city. No member of the board shall be eligible to appointment or 
employment by the board. 

>^ 3 General powers and duties. The board has all the powers and is charged 
with all the duties of commissioners of common schools, and of trustees of the 
several school districts in this State, under the general statutes relating to com- 
mon schools, so far as such powers and duties can be made applicable to the 
schools herein provided for, and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this 
act and of chapter 473 of the Laws of 1906. 

§ 4 Superintendent of schools. The superintendent of schools shall hold 
office during the pleasure of the board. Any person may prefer charges in 
writing of incompetency, maladministration or misconduct in office against the 
superintendent, and thereupon the board shall proceed to hear the charges, and 
in case the same shall be sustained by the affirmative votes of a majority thereof 
the superintendent shall be dismissed from his office. 

§ 5 Powers and duties of superintendent. The superintendent has power 
and it is his duty to see that all rules and regulations of the board are complied 
Avith by the principals and teachers ; to determine the different grades of study 
which shall be pursued in the various departments of the several schools ; to 
transfer teachers from one school to another, or from one grade to another ; 
to suspend any teacher temporarily for cause, provided, however, that the 
reasons for such suspension shall be immediately transmitted to the board in 
writing ; to transfer pupils from one school to another ; to prescribe rules and 
regulations for the admission, examination and promotion of pupils ; and he shall 
have charge of the school libraries. 

S 6 AptDointment of assistant teachers; terms of principals. All assistant 
teachers shall be appointed for a probationary period of one year, at the expira- 
tion of which term, unless satisfactory evidence of incompetency is submitted 
by the superintendent, the probationer may be elected by the board. Thereafter 
such teacher shall hold the position during good behavior and shall be remov- 
able only for cause, after a hearing, by the affirmative votes of a majority of the 
board. All probationary appointments shall be made from the head of a merit 
list, upon v/hich the names of all eligible candidates for appointment as assistant 
teachers shall appear in the order of their rank in scholarship and qualifications 
for teaching ; and it shall be the duty of the board to prescribe by rules not in- 
consistent with the laws of the State the means of determining such rank in 
scholarship and qualifications. All principals shall hold their positions during 
good behavior and shall be removable only for cause, after a hearing, by the 
affirmative votes of at least a majority of the board. 



382 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 7 School buildings, repairs, sale and erection of. Whenever in the opinion 
of the commissioner of pubHc works any repairs are needed to the public school 
buildings in the city, the commissioner of pubHc works shall make such repairs. 
The board of education shall recommend to the common council, when in its 
opinion the pubHc interests require, the sale of any schoolhouse, the purchase or 
lease of any land or building for a schoolhouse, and when authorized thereto by 
an ordinance of the common council, the board of contract and supply may make 
such sale, purchase or lease in the manner as provided for by chapter 473 of the 
Laws of 1906 ; and it may recommend to the common council the erection of any 
school building; and when authorized thereto by an ordinance of the common 
council, the board of contract and supply may erect such buildings in the manner 
and upon the conditions prescribed in chapter 473 of the Laws of 1906. 

§ 8 Public school moneys. All public money apportioned or appropriated 
to or for the city, or to or for any of the school districts therein, or for the 
school libraries, shall be paid by the proper officers to the treasurer, and in the 
accounts kept by him shall be credited to the department of public instruction and 
paid out by him upon bills properly allowed and audited in the same manner 
as obtains in the case of other bills against the city. 

§ 9 Termination of terms of present commissioners. Upon the taking effect 
of this act the rights, duties, powers and terms of office of the commissioners 
of common schools in office when this act takes effect shall cease and terminate. 

§ 10 Laws repealed. All acts or parts of acts, general or special, inconsistent 
with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed, but such repeal shall not 
affect any right already existing or accrued, or any liability incurred prior to the 
passage of this act. 

§ II This act shall take effect immediately. 

Chapter 306, Lav^^s of 1907 ' 

An act to establish a retirement fund for the pensioning of retired school teachers, 
superintendents, supervisors and heads of high school departments of the 
public schools of the city of Schenectady, and to regulate the collection, manage- 
ment and disbursement thereof 

Section i The mayor, the president of the board of education and the comp- 
troller shall constitute a board of trustees who shall have the general care and 
management of the public school teachers retirement fund created by this act. 
The said board of trustees is empowered to make payment from said fund of the 
annuities granted in pursuance of this act ; to take all necessary and proper action 
in the premises ; and to make such by-laws, rules and regulations as may be neces- 
sary or proper, and to provide for the administration and investment of said fund 
as it may deem best, except that no part of said fund ^hall be invested in any 

' The teachers of this city have abandoned the local retirement act and have come under 
the general law relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section iiog-b of the 
Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of the 
teachers of this city it has been superseded by the general law. 



EDUCATION CODE 383 

manner except as the savings banks of the State are. by law permitted to invest 
their funds. (As amended by L. ipo8, ch. 116.) 

§ 2 The pubhc school teachers retirement fund created by this act shall con- 
sist of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom, to wit: 

a All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to said fund. 

b One and one-half per centum per annum of the respective salaries paid to 
the superintendent of schools, principals, supervisors, heads of high school de- 
partments and teachers regularly employed in the public schools of Schenectady, 
who shall within twelve months after the date of their appointment, or before 
May 6, 1908, as the case may be, signify to the board of trustees that they desire 
to come under the provisions of this act, provided that the amount deducted from 
any one salary shall not exceed one per centum of twelve hundred dollars in any 
one year. 

c A sum annually consisting of one and one-half per centum of the payroll of 
the superintendent of schools, principals, supervisors, heads of high school de- 
partments and teachers. 

d All moneys which may be obtained from other sources or by other means 
duly and legally devised for the increase of said fund by the board of trustees or 
with their consent. (As amended by L. ipo8, ch. 116.) 

§ 3 The board of education in making the payrolls for the superintendent, 
principals, supervisors, heads of high school departments and teachers herein- 
before mentioned shall deduct from the salary of each of said persons, who shall 
have signified their intention to become beneficiaries under this act, a sum equal 
to one and one-half per centum of his or her annual salary, and shall certify the 
amount of such deduction and the names of the persons from whose salaries such 
deductions have been made, and such certificate shall accompany the payroll and 
a warrant for the amount of the deduction so certified shall be drawn upon the 
treasurer payable to the city comptroller and such amount shall be paid into the 
retirement fund and duly credited thereto by the comptroller. There shall also be 
a warrant drawn against the treasurer of the city of Schenectady for a sum equal 
in amount to one and one-half per centum of the payroll of the superintendent of 
schools, principals, supervisors, heads of high school departments and teachers, 
from January i, 1908, and yearly thereafter to be paid from the excise money to 
which the city of Schenectady may be entitled by virtue of the provisions of the 
liquor tax law of the State of New York, payable to the city comptroller, who 
shall deposit said sum with the city treasurer, who shall retain the same subject 
to the disposal of said board of trustees as hereinbefore provided. {As amended 
by L. 1908, ch. 116.) 

§ 4 The comptroller of said city shall be the custodian of said fund and all 
orders made payable from this fund shall be made upon the vote of said board of 
trustees. {As amended by L. igo8, ch. 116.) 

§ 5 If the board of education of the city of Schenectady shall on recommenda- 
tion of the superintendent of schools retire from service or refuse to reappomt 
to service because of mental or physical incapacity, any principal, supervisor, head 



384 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

of high school department or teacher who having become a contributor to this 
fund shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate period of 
twenty years, if a female, and twenty-five years, if a male, any person so retired 
or refused reappointment shall become an annuitant under this act, provided that 
not less than fifteen years of such service shall have been rendered in the public 
schools of Schenectady, or in the territory annexed thereto by the legislative act 
of 1903, and provided that he or she shall have come under the provisions of this 
act in the manner and within the time hereinbefore mentioned. 

b Any superintendent, principal, supervisor, head of high school department or 
teacher who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for a period of thirty 
years if a female, or thirty-five years if a male, may with the consent of the board 
of education retire from service and become an annuitant under this act, pro- 
vided that not less than fifteen years of such service shall have been performed 
in the public schools of the city of Schenectady, or in the territory annexed 
thereto by the legislative act of 1903, and provided that he or she shall have come 
under the provisions of this act in the manner and v/ithin the time hereinbefore 
mentioned. Any female person retired after twenty years of service but with 
less than thirty years of service, shall receive an annuity which shall bear the 
same ratio to the annuity provided on retirement after thirty years of service as 
the total number of years of service of such person bears to thirty years. Any 
male person retired after twenty-five years of service but with less than thirty- 
five years of service shall receive an annuity which shall bear the same ratio to 
the annuity provided on retirement after thirty-five years of service as the total 
number of years of service of such person bears to thirty-five years. 

c Any teacher who has been dismissed by the board of education for causf 
shall not become an annuitant under this act. 

§ 6 Annuities paid in pursuance of this act shall be one-half the amount of 
the annual salary of the annuitant at the time of retirement from service, except 
that no annuity shall amount to less than three hundred and fifty dollars nor 
more than four hundred and fifty dollars annually, but if the moneys at the dis- 
posal of the trustees of said fund be found at any time inadequate to fully carry 
out the provisions hereinabove mentioned, the trustees shall then cause to be 
distributed such moneys pro rata to the persons entitled to participate in said 
fund and such distribution shall be in full of all annuities then due. {As amended 
by L. 1908, ch. 116.) 

§ 7 No person shall become an annuitant under this act who has not con- 
tributed to the teachers retirement fund in pursuance of subdivision 3 of this act, 
an amount equal to at least forty per centum of his or her annual salary at the 
time of retirement, provided that this payment shall in no case exceed forty per 
centum of twelve hundred dollars ; but any person who has been a superintendent, 
principal, supervisor, head of high school department or teacher in the public 
schools of Schenectady, for the time specified in this act may become an annuitant 
by making, before receiving any annuity, a cash payment to the retirement fund 



EDUCATION CODE 385 

of such an amount as his or her contribution under section number 2-b may have 
fallen short of the required forty per centum. 

§ 8 No annuity shall be paid from the teachers retirement fund before Septem- 
ber, 1907, but any person duly qualified who shall have retired from service be- 
fore that time shall not be deemed to have forfeited the right to become an 
annuitant under the provisions of this act. 

§ 9 If at any time a superintendent, principal, supervisor, head of high school 
department or teacher who shall be willing to continue service in the public service 
in the public schools at Schenectady, shall not be reemployed or shall be dis- 
charged before the time when he or she would under the provisions of this act be 
entitled to an annuity, then such person shall be paid back, without interest, 
seventy-five per centum of the money which may have been deducted from his or 
her salary in pursuance of this act. 

§ 10 The comptroller shall include in his annual report a full account of the 
condition of the teachers retirement fund, its amount, the manner of its invest- 
ment, and all receipts and disbursements on account of said fund during the year. 
(As amended by L. ipo8, ch. ii6.) 
13 



SYRACUSE 

Chaper 543, Laws o£ 1907 
An act to provide for a department of public instruction in the city of 

Syracuse 

Section i Department of public instruction established 

2 Officers and subordinates 

3 Official undertakings 

4 Powers and duties of the board 

5 Superintendent of schools ; duties 

6 Clerk; duties 

7 Superintendent of repairs; duties 

8 Regulation of salaries 

9 School libraries 

10 Appointment and qualifications of principals and teachers 

11 Textbooks 

12 State school money 

13 School buildings 

14 Construction of act 

15 Saving clause 

16 Construction of provisions 

17 Laws repealed 

Section i Department of public instruction established. A department of 
public instruction in and for the city of Syracuse is hereby established. There 
shall be a board of education, composed of seven members, to be called com- 
missioners of education, who shall be elected by the electors of the city at large. 
Said board shall be the head of the department of public instruction, and the 
representative of the school system of the city in its entirety. The terms of 
said commissioners shall be four years, to commence January ist following their 
election. The first commissioners of education shall be those holding office at 
the time this act takes effect, and who shall continue to hold their offices until 
the expiration of the terms for which they were severally elected. Their suc- 
cessors shall be elected at the biennial city election next preceding the expiration 
of their respective terms of office, in the same manner as other city officers. Said 
commissioners shall serve without compensation. 

§ 2 Officers and subordinates. The board shall appoint one of its members 
president, who shall exercise all of the powers usually incident to such office. It 
shall appoint, to hold office for a term of four years, unless sooner removed, a 
clerk who shall perform the duties hereinafter specified and shall receive such 
compensation for his services as shall be determined by the board of estimate and 
apportionment. It shall also appoint to hold office for a term of four years, unless 
sooner removed, a suitable person, to be superintendent of schools, who shall 
exercise the powers and discharge the duties hereinafter defined, and shall 
receive such compensation for his service as the board of estimate and apportion- 

[386] 



EDUCATION CODE 387 

ment may determine. It may also appoint a superintendent of repairs, and such 
other subordinates, including principals, teachers, attendance or truant officers, 
and janitors or custodians of schools as the public school system of the city may 
require, and, subject to the approval of the board of estimate and apportionment, 
shall fix and determine the salaries or compensation of all such officers, and 
subordinates, within the appropriation made therefor. The present officers, ap- 
pointees and employees of the board of education shall continue to hold their 
respective offices during the terms for which they have been respectively ap- 
pointed. All appropriations of public moneys made for the payment of salaries 
and compensation of officers and subordinates of the department of pubhc in- 
struction shall be paid monthly, after certification by the president of the board 
of education, by the city treasurer upon the warrant of the city comptroller, in 
the same manner as the salaries of the other city officers. The commissioners and 
subordinates shall be deemed to be city officers of the city, and shall be subject 
to all the provisions of law applicable to such city offixers. 

§ 3 Official undertakings. The superintendent of schools and the clerk shall 
each, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his offiice, execute and 
file with the city clerk an official undertaking conditioned upon the faithful dis- 
charge of the duties of his office, in such sum as shall be prescribed by the com- 
mon council; such undertakings to be approved as to form and validity by the 
corporation counsel, and as to the sufficiency of the sureties by the mayor. 

§ 4 Powers and duties of the board. The board of education shall have the 
sole and exclusive government, management, care and control of the pubhc 
school system of the city, subject only to the general statutes of the State relative 
to public schools and public school instruction not inconsistent with the pro- 
visions of this act. It shall have the sole and exclusive care, custody, control, 
management and safekeeping of all property owned or used for school purposes. 
It shall have full power and authority to approve all plans for new school build- 
ings; to make rules and regulations for the government of the schools; prescribe 
courses of study and textbooks; provide the schools with necessary apparatus, 
equipment, furniture and supplies ; supply the requisite textbooks and stationery 
for the use of the pupils, when required by law ; exchange old textbooks for new ; 
change the grades of schools and classes therein, and establish new schools; 
license and fix standards for qualification as necessary requirements for service 
of all principals and teachers in the schools, which requirements may be higher, 
but not lower, than the minimum qualifications required by the general laws of 
the State ; assign and transfer principals, teachers and pupils to schools and from 
one school to another, and provide for the graduation of all pupils from all 
grades of schools ; allow teachers extra pay for extra work, and employ and fix 
the compensation of such extra teachers as may be required, within the appro- 
priation made for teachers' wages; prescribe rules and regulations for the ad- 
mission of nonresident pupils to the schools of the city and fix the tuition to be 
paid therefor ; and shall have all the powers and discharge all the duties con- 
ferred or imposed by law upon commissioners of common schools and trustees 
of the several school districts of the State, so far as the same are applicable to 



3^^ THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the schools of the city and are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 
In the execution of the powers and authority vested in it the board may estab- 
hsh such rules and regulations as it may deem necessary for the promotion of 
the welfare and best interests of the public schools and the public school system 
of the city. The board shall administer all moneys appropriated or available 
for educational purposes, provided that all purchases or expenditures made, or 
expenses or indebtedness incurred by said board, or in said department, shall 
be made, audited and paid in the same manner and subject to the same conditions 
and limitations as are provided by law for expenditures made by other city 
departments. The enumeration of specific powers herein shall not be deemed 
to exclude or limit the exercise of powers not so enumerated. 

§ 5 Superintendent of schools; duties. It shall be the duty of the superin- 
tendent of schools, under the general supervision and direction of the board of 
education, to visit the several schools of the city at frequent intervals; to inquire 
into the character of the instruction, management and discipline; to advise and 
encourage the pupils and teachers; to enforce the rules and regulations of the 
board of education; to maintain and enforce proper discipline in the management 
and conduct of the schools, and in connection therewith may suspend any pupil 
alleged to be guilty of misconduct or insubordination, and may likewise suspend 
any teacher, principal or employee, but shall immediately report such discipline 
with his reasons therefor to the board of education ; to report to the board of edu- 
cation any inefficiency or misconduct on the part of principals, teachers and em- 
ployees ; to supervise the enforcement of the compulsory education law and direct 
truant officers in the discharge of their duties ; to have charge of the school libra- 
ries; and to perform such other duties as shall be prescribed by or delegated to 
him by the board of education. 

§ 6 Clerk; duties. The clerk shall keep all records of the board and shall 
have charge, custody and control of the rooms, books, papers, documents and rec- 
ords of the department and shall perform such other duties as shall be required 
by the board of education. He is hereby authorized to administer oaths and take 
affidavits in all matters appertaining to the schools or school system of the city 
and for that purpose shall possess all the powers of a commissioner of deeds, but 
shall not be entitled to any of the fees or emoluments thereof. 

§ 7 Superintendent of repairs; duties. The superintendent of repairs shall, 
under the direction of the board, have charge of keeping in repair the school 
buildings, school furniture and equipment, heating and other apparatus and appli- 
ances for carrying on school work; and for such purposes may, subject to the 
approval of the board, and within the appropriation made therefor, employ such 
assistants as may be necessary. 

§ 8 Regulation of salaries. The salaries of all principals and teachers shall 
be regulated so far as practicable, according to merit, grade of class taught, length 
of service in teaching or by a combination of these considerations, in accordance 
with a uniform of^ schedule. 



^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 389 

§ 9 School libraries. The board of education shall be the sole trustee of the 
several school libraries in said city. It shall provide for the safekeeping of the 
same and all provisions of law relative to district school libraries shall be appli- 
cable thereto. It shall be vested with the same discretion as to the disposition of 
all moneys appropriated by any laws of the State for the purpose of school libra- 
ries as is conferred by law upon the inhabitants of school districts. 

§ 10 Appointments and qualifications of principals and teachers. All 
appointments to positions of teachers in the public schools of ihe city, except prin- 
cipals and vice principals of schools, heads of departments of high schools, and 
special teachers of drawing, music, physical culture, writing, sloyd, stenography 
and domestic science, shall be made from a merit list to be ascertained and estab- 
Hshed in accordance with such rules and regulations as the board of education 
shall prescribe. The applicants on said list shall be graded and classified accord- 
ing to a combination of qualifications which shall include scholarship, ability to 
teach, experience and ability in school and classroom discipline and management, 
and general merit and fitness. No person shall be appointed to the position of 
principal of a high school or of a grammar school, or teacher of a high school, 
who is not a graduate of a normal school, college or university recognized by the 
Regents of The University of the State of New York, and has not had at least 
two years' successful experience in teaching, and no person shall be appomted as 
teacher in a grammar school or kindergarten who is not a graduate of a normal 
school or who has not pursued a course in pedagogy in a State training school for 
at least one year. The provisions of this section as to qualifications or eligibility 
shall not apply to any principal or teacher now in the employ of the city. 

§ II Textbooks. Textbooks shall be furnished free of expense to all pupils 
of the common schools of said city of all grades below that of high school. Such 
books shall be and remain the property of the city and the board of education shall 
provide for the care and preservation of the same. No textbook of which any 
officer or subordinate of the department is the author, or in the publication or sale 
of which any such officer or subordinate is in any way interested, shall be adopted 
for use in any of the schools of the city unless the same shall have been adopted 
and shall be in use in the public schools of at least five other cities of the State. 

§ 12 State school money. Whenever the city clerk shall receive notice from 
the State Commissioner of Education of the amount of moneys apportioned to 
said city for the support and encouragement of common schools therein, he shall 
immediately lay the same before the city comptroller and treasurer, and the treas- 
urer shall apply for and receive the moneys apportioned to the said "ty as soon as 
the same become payable and place the same in the city treasury, and the same 
shall be applicable for the reduction of general taxation. 

8 i^ School buildings. The commissioner of public works shall have the 
power, when authorized so to do by the board of estimate and apportionment for, 
on behalf of and in the name of the city of Syracuse, to acquire by purchase or 
condemnation or to lease such real property as may be required for school pur- 
poses; to superintend the planning and construction of new school buildings; and 



390 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

to dispose of such real property owned and used for school purposes as shall no 
longer be required therefor. No school building or addition to a school building 
shall hereafter be erected until the plans, specifications and detailed drawings for 
the same shall have been approved by the superintendent of public works and 
board of education and their respective approvals indorsed thereon. Such plans 
and specifications shall show in detail the ventilation, heating, lighting, plumbing 
and sanitary arrangements of such buildings. No plan or specifications for the 
erection of any school building or addition to a school building shall be approved 
unless the same shall provide at least fifteen square feet of floor space and two 
hundred cubic feet of air space for each pupil to be accommodated in each study 
or recitation room therein, nor unless provision be made therein for assuring at 
least thirty feet of pure air every minute per pupil and the facilities for exhaust- 
ing foul or vitiated air therefrom shall be positive and independent of atmospheric 
changes. All such school buildings shall have at least two separate and distinct 
stairways located as far remote from each other as practicable. All stairs, stair- 
ways and stair halls shall be constructed of absolutely fireproof material. All 
stairways and stair halls shall be inclosed on all sides with walls of solid masonry, 
self-supported and carried from the foundations. All doorways opening therein 
shall be protected by fire doors and all window openings, except from the outside, 
shall have fireproof or wired glass set in metallic frames. All halls, doors, stair- 
ways, seats, passageways and aisles, and all lighting and heating appliances and 
apparatus shall be so arranged as to faciHtate egress in case of fire or accident, 
and to afford the requisite and proper accommodations for public protection in 
such cases. Existing school buildings shall, as far as practicable, be improved 
so as to comply with the foregoing requirements. 

§ 14 Construction of act. This act is intended to be and shall be deemed and 
held in all courts and jurisdictions to be a public act, of which the courts shall 
take judicial notice. This act shall be construed not as an act in derogation of 
the powers of the State but as one intended to aid the State in the execution of its 
duties, and shall be liberally construed so as to carry into effect the objects and 
purposes hereof. 

§ 15 Saving clause. The repeal of a law, or any part of it, specified in the 
annexed schedule, or otherwise, by the provisions of this act, shall not affect or 
impair any act done or right accruing, accrued or acquired, or penalty, forfeiture 
or punishment incurred prior to the time when this act takes effect under or by 
virtue of the law so repealed, but the same may be asserted, enforced, prosecuted 
or inflicted as fully and to the same extent as if such law had not been repealed ; 
and all actions or proceedings, civil or criminal, commenced under or by virtue of 
any law so repealed and pending when this act takes effect, may be prosecuted 
and defended to final eft'ect in the same manner as they might under any such law 
so repealed, unless it shall be otherwise specially provided herein. 

§ 16 Construction of provisions. The provisions of this act, so far as they 
are substantially the same, or cover the same subject matter as those of any law 



EDUCATION CODE 39 1 

repealed hereby, shall be construed as a continuance of any such repealed law, 
modified or amended, according to the language employed herein, and not as new 
enactments. References in a law not repealed to the provisions of any law incor- 
porated into this act or repealed, shall be construed as applying to the provisions 
so incorporated. The meaning and effect of the terms of language used herein 
shall be construed in accordance with the provisions of the statutory construction 
law. 

§ 17 Laws repealed. The following acts and parts of acts are hereby 
repealed : 

1 Of the laws enumerated in the schedule annexed, that portion thereof speci- 
fied in the last column. 

2 All acts or parts of acts, general or special, in so far as inconsistent with the 
provisions of this act. 

But such repeal shall not revive a law repealed by any law hereby repealed, but 
shall include all laws purporting to specifically amend any of the laws hereby spe- 
cifically repealed. 

§ 18 This act shall take effect immediately. 

SCHEDULE 

Laws of Chapter Sections 

1885 26 174-183 

1887 368 16 

1889 18 All 

1892 626 • 5 

1893 524 A^^ 

1893 531 ^^^4 

1895 950 23 27 

1898 48 A" 

Chapter 750, Laws of 1897 
An act to amend chapter 26 of the Laws of 1885, entitled "An act to revise 
amend and consolidate the several acts in relation to the city of Syracuse, and 
to revise and amend the charter of said city," establishing a fund for pensionmg 
retired school teachers, and regulating the collection and management thereof 
Section I Title 11 of chapter 26 of the Laws of 1885 is hereby amended by 
adding thereto a new section to read- as follows : 

§ 183a. Sub. I The board of education and superintendent of schools of the 
city of Syracuse shall constitute a board of trustees who shall have the general 
care and management of the public school teachers retirement fund created by 
this act. The said board of trustees is empowered to make payment, from said 



392 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

fund, of annuities granted in pursuance of this act ; to take all necessary and 
proper action in the premises ; and to make such rules and regulations for the ad- 
ministration and investment of said fund as it may deem best, except that neither 
the whole nor any part of said fund shall be invested in any manner otherwise 
than as the savings banks of the State are by law permitted to invest their funds. 
Sub. 2 The public school teachers retirement fund created by this act, shall 
consist of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom, to wit: 

a All money, pay, compensation or salary forfeited by or deducted from the 
salary of any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher employed in the 
public schools of Syracuse, for any absence from duty for any cause ; but when 
the duties of such absent person are performed by a supply teacher, the amount 
of salary so deducted shall first be apphed toward the payment of such supply 
teacher. 

b All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to said fund. 
c An amount not to exceed one per centum per annum of the respective salaries 
paid to the superintendent of schools, supervisors, principals and teachers regu- 
larly employed in the public schools of Syracuse. 

d All moneys which may be obtained from other sources, or by other means 
duly and legally devised for the increase of said fund, by said board of trustees, 
or with their consent. 

Sub. 3 The board of education, in making the payrolls for the superintendent, 
supervisors, principals and teachers hereinbefore mentioned, shall semiannually 
deduct from the salary of each of said persons, a sum not to exceed one per 
centum per annum of his or her annual salary and shall certify the amount of 
such deductions and names of the persons from whose salaries such deductions 
have been made ; and such certificate shall accompany the payroll and a warrant 
for the amount of the deductions so certified shall be drawn payable to the city 
treasurer, who shall retain the same subject to the disposal of the said board of 
trustees. A similar certificate shall be made and warrant drawn each month in 
case of deductions from salaries on account of absence from duty. 

Sub. 4 The city treasurer shall be the custodian of said fund and shall execute 
a bond to the city, with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by said board 
of trustees, conditioned on the faithful performance of his duties as such cus- 
todian. Said bond shall be filed in the office of the city clerk, and in case of a 
breach of the same or any of the conditions thereof, suit may be brought on said 
bond in the name of the city for the use of said board or any person or persons 
injured by such breach. 

Sub. 5 (a) The board of education shall have power, on recommendation of 
the superintendent of schools, to retire from service any supervisor, principal or 
teacher who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate 
period of twenty years if a female, and twenty-five years if a male; and any 
person so retired shall become an annuitant under this act, provided that not less 
than fifteen years of such service shall have been rendered in the public schools 
of Syracuse. 



EDUCATION CODE 393 

(b) Any superintendent, principal, supervisor or teacher who shall have served 
in such capacity or capacities for a period of thirty years if a female, or thirty- 
five years if a male, may voluntarily retire from service and become an annuitant 
under this act, provided that not less than fifteen years of such service, or five 
years as provided in subdivision 9 of this act, shall have been performed in 
the pubHc schools within the present limits of Syracuse. 

Sub. 6 No annuity paid in pursuance of this act shall exceed one-half the 
annual salary of the annuitant receiving it, at the time of retirement from service; 
neither shall any annuity exceed the sum of eight hundred dollars, and all an- 
nuities must be at the same rate per centum of the salary of the several annuitants 
at the time of retirement, except in cases where the annuity at that rate would 
exceed eight hundred dollars. 

Sub. 7 No person shall become an annuitant who has not contributed to the 
teachers retirement fund, in pursuance of subdivision 3 of this act, exclusive of 
deductions from salary for absence, an amount equal to at least twenty per 
centum of his or her annual salary at the time of retirement; but any such per- 
son, otherwise qualified, may become an annuitant by making a cash payment to 
the retirement fund before receiving any annuity, of such an amount as his pre- 
vious contributions under said subdivision 3 may have fallen short of the re- 
quired twenty per centum. 

Sub. 8 No annuity shall be paid from the teachers retirement fund before 
July I, 1901 ; but any person duly qualified who shall retire or be retired from 
service before that time, shall not be deemed to have forfeited the right to be- 
come an annuitant under the provisions of this act. 

Sub. 9 No person shall be deemed to have forfeited the right to become an 
annuitant by virtue of having resigned his or her position in the public schools of 
Syracuse after five years of service therein, provided that such person shall con- 
tinue in similar work elsewhere, and shall contribute annually to the retirement 
fund an amount equal to one per centum of the annual salary of such person at 
the time of such resignation. 

Sub. 10 If at any time a superintendent, principal, supervisor or teacher, who 
shall be willing to continue service in the schools, shall not be reemployed, or shall 
be discharged, before the time when he or she would, under the provisions of 
this act, be entitled to an annuity, then such person shall be paid back all the 
money which may have been deducted from his or her salary in pursuance of 
this act, otherwise than on account of absence. 

Sub. II The board of education shall include in its annual report a full ac- 
count of the condition of the teachers retirement fund, its amount, the manner of 
its investment, and all receipts and disbursements on account of said fund dunng 
the year. 



TONAWANDA 

Chapter 357, Laws of 1905 
An act to revise the several acts relative to the city of Tonawanda 

TITLE XXII 

CITY SCHOOLS 
Section i Boundaries 

2 Board of education; how constituted 

3 Organization 

4 Powers 

5 Duties 

6 Certificate of expenses 

7 Common council, to include amount stated in certificate in tax levy 

8 School moneys to be kept separate 

9 Purchase of site and buildings 

10 Report of expenditures 

11 State apportionment payable to treasurer 

12 Ordinance for school property 

13 Sinking fund 

Section i Boundaries. All territory included within the boundaries of the 
city of Tonawanda shall constitute a separate school district within this State, and 
shall be designated as the " union school district of the city of Tonawanda." It 
may bear such other additional designation as the Superintendent of Public In- 
struction of this State may by law prescribe. Such district shall be entitled to all 
rights, powers, privileges, public moneys and other benefits conferred by law or 
other State authority upon school districts, and shall be subject to all the rules, 
regulations, powers of inspection, and superintendence prescribed by law appli- 
cable to school districts in cities except as otherwise provided by this act. 

§ 2 Board of education; how constituted. The affairs of said union school 
district of the city of Tonawanda shall be managed by a board of six members, 
to be organized in the manner herein provided, which board shall be known and 
designated as the " board of education of the city of Tonawanda." Said board 
and its successors shall possess the powers conferred, and discharge all the duties 
imposed by this act or by any general law of this State relating to school districts 
in cities, or relating to the boards of education of such districts and not inconsist- 
ent with the provisions of this act. 

§ 3 Organization. On the Monday following the appointment of the mem- 
bers of the board of education to fill vacancies occurring in said board by expi- 
ration of term, the board of education shall convene at eight o'clock in the after- 
noon, at its usual place of meeting. The persons so appointed shall thereupon 
take the oath of office, and the board of education of the city of Tonawanda as 
constituted for the preceding year shall be dissolved, and the board of education 

[394] 



EDUCATION CODE 395 

composed of the persons so appointed and those whose term of office shall not 
have expired, shall then be organized by the election of a president from among 
their number, and of some suitable person not of their number but who shall be 
a resident of said city as the clerk of said board. A majority of the board of edu- 
cation shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and it shall keep 
a record of its proceedings. 

§ 4 Powers. The board of education of the city of Tonawanda shall have 
the power, subject to the provisions of this act, to purchase, take, lease, hold or 
improve any real or personal estate in trust for said school district of said city 
in the support and maintenance of schools, or for any of the purposes of educa- 
tion in said city. It may also take by purchase, gift, grant, bequest or devise and 
hold any real or personal estate in trust for any of the purposes of education or 
art or for the support or maintenance of public libraries in said city upon such 
terms as may be prescribed by the doner^ or doners^ and accepted by said board ; 
and it may execute any trust for any of the purposes aforesaid and provide for 
the proper execution thereof. The title of all schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, 
books, apparatus and other school property belonging to or in possession of the 
school district of the city of Tonawanda shall so continue for the purposes of edu- 
cation, in said city, subject to any existing liability. 

§ 5 Duties. Subject to the provisions of this act, said board shall have power, 
and it shall be their duty, 

1 To establish and organize in said city such and so many free schools, includ- 
ing night and vacation schools, as said board shall deem necessary and proper, 
and to change or discontinue the same in their discretion. 

2 To purchase, as herein prescribed, hire, sell, or dispose of schoolhouses, lots, 
sites and school furniture as they may deem advisable. 

3 To alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as they may 
deem advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, supphes 
and appendages, and to defray the necessary expense attending the ^ me. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the school buildings, lots, outhouses, 
books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinance and by-laws of 
said city in relation thereto are enforced, and any violation thereof punished. 

6 To contract with and employ janitors and employees. 

7 To contract with and employ a superintendent of instruction for said city and 
all necessary teachers and to remove said superintendent, teachers and other ap- 
pointees under such rules and regulations as may be estabHshed by law or by the 
Department of Public Instruction of said State. 

8 To expend all moneys raised by virtue of this act, for purchasing sites, erect- 
ing or enlarging schoolhouses, or for other purposes, in such manner as they may 
deem best, but only for the purposes for which the same was so raised except as 
hereinafter provided. 

^ So in the original. 



396 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

9 To license, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of instruction of 
said city, all teachers now employed in the schools of said city, in the same man- 
ner and with like effect in said city as school commissioners of counties. 

10 To take and appropriate lands and other real property within said city for 
school purposes, upon making compensation therefor, in the same manner and 
under the same proceedings as prescribed in this act and as conferred upon the 
common council to take and appropriate lands for opening streets and highways. 

11 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers except The University of 
the State of New York, the Department of Public Instruction of this State, and 
as herein otherwise provided, the entire supervision and management of the 
schools in said city, and from time to time, to adopt, alter, modify or repeal as 
they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organization, govern- 
ment and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from one 
schoolroom or house to another, for their advancement from class to class as their 
degree of scholarship shall warrant and generally for the promotion of the good 
order and prosperity of said schools. 

12 To allow the children of persons nonresidents within the city to attend any 
of the schools therein under the control of said board upon such terms as said 
board by resolution may prescribe. 

13 To maintain a free public library, which shall be under the control of a 
board of library trustees, appointed as is, or shall be prescribed by law. 

14 To exercise the same discretion as to the disposition of the moneys provided 
by law for the purchase of libraries as is conferred upon the inhabitants of school 
districts. 

15 Except as otherwise provided by this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred upon the inhabitants of school districts at school district meetings. 

16 Except as otherwise provided in this act, to exercise all the powers con- 
ferred and discharge all the duties imposed by the general laws of this State ap- 
plicable to boards of education in cities. The records of the proceedings of said 
boards, or a transcript thereof, certified by its president and clerk, shall be re- 
ceived in all courts or places as prima facie evidence of the facts therein stated. 

§ 6 Certificate of expenses. On or before the ist day of February of each 
year the board of education shall prepare a certificate of such sums of moneys as 
it may deem necessary for the school year commencing August ist thereafter for 
each of the following purposes, namely : 

1 For wages of superintendent and teachers after applying all the public school 
and other moneys applicable thereto. 

2 For the repair, enlargement or improvement of schoolhouses, outhouses and 
grounds with their appendages and appurtenances. 

3 For the purchase, repair or improvement of school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and fixtures. 

4 For the rent of schoolhouses and rooms for school purposes. 

5 For the purchase, maintenance and care of the free public library, library 
buildings and grounds. 



EDUCATION CODE 397 

6 For the purchase of fuel and lights and to pay the contingent expenses of the 
district, including the salaries of the janitors and the incidental expenses, and in- 
cluding the interest on the bonded school debt. 

§ 7 Common council to include amount stated in certificate in tax levy. 
Such certificate signed by the president and clerk of said board shall, within the 
time hereinabove specified be delivered to the city clerk. The city clerk shall de- 
liver such certificate to the common council at its next regular meeting. The 
common council shall not have authority to revise or review such certificate but 
shall cause to be included in the annual tax levy for that year, the amount so cer- 
tified in such certificate, and such amount shall be collected by the city treasurer 
and credited to the various funds as designated in said certificate. 

§ 8 School moneys to be kept separate. All public moneys or other funds 
belonging or appropriated to the use of said district shall be paid to the city treas- 
urer, who shall keep the same separate from the general funds of the city, and 
shall credit to each of said school funds the moneys or property belonging thereto. 
Upon request from said board the city treasurer shall certify from time to time 
the various balances remaining to the credit of any or all of the school and library 
funds, and the balances remaining unpaid to said various funds from the amount 
of the school certificate for that year. 

§ 9 Purchase of site and buildings. When the board of education shall de- 
termine by resolution that it is necessary to purchase any site or addition to any 
site, or erect any school building, or enlarge any school building already erected, 
it shall in such resolution state the ward within which the site is to be purchased 
or building to be erected or enlarged, and the particular sum required for each 
separately. If said total sum exceeds three thousand dollars they shall then call 
a tax election in said city in the manner provided in this act for the calhng of 
special tax elections by the common council. The board of education shall ap- 
point three freeholders of the city, inspectors of such elections, who may fill 
vacancies occurring in their number. The inspectors shall thereupon proceed to 
hold such election, pursuant to such resolution, and in the same manner as in hold- 
ing other tax elections under this act, and the qualifications of the electors thereat 
shall be determined by the general school law of the State applicable to cities. The 
board of education shall designate some convenient and central place at which to 
hold such special tax election and such tax election shall be held by the same m- 
spectors during the same hours and in the same manner as other tax elections 
under this act. The vote shall be taken by ballot which shall be indorsed " school 
tax," and shall be deposited in a ballot box provided therefor and marked " school 
tax." The board of education shall at every such tax election provide sufficient 
printed ballots for the use of the electors thereat, upon which shall be^prmted the 
various items or objects to be voted for thereat, with the words " for and 
'■•• against " at the beginning of each item. Each elector shall indicate his vote as 
to each of said items by placing a cross before the word " for " if he favors the 
proposition, and before the word " against," if he opposes the proposition, ihe 
inspectors shall canvass said votes without intermission or adjournment as at other 
elections, and make a statement thereof in respect to each item voted upon, and 



398 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

immediately file the same with the clerk of the board of education. Upon the 
day following such tax election the board of education shall convene at its usual 
place of meeting, at eight o'clock in the afternoon, and the said statement shall be 
produced, and the board shall forthwith declare and make a certificate in writing 
of the result. In case a majority of the votes cast be in favor of any said taxes, 
the board of education shall have authority to borrow upon the faith and credit 
of said city the aggregate of the items having such majority, or any part thereof, 
at any time before and until the same can be provided for according to law. The 
board of education shall authorize the issue of bonds or other evidences of indebt- 
edness, in such form and payable at such times as it may prescribe, for the sum 
or sums so authorized at a rate of interest not exceeding four per centum per 
annum. Said bonds or any part thereof may be sold by the board of education to 
the highest bidder after advertisement, but at not less than the par value thereof 
and accrued interest. The board of education, after completing the work or other 
objects for which the said moneys may have been raised, may apply any unex- 
pended balance that may remain to any object authorized or contemplated by this 
article. 

§ 10 Report of expenditures. It shall be the duty of the board of education, 
on or before the ist day of September in each year, to make and file with the 
common council a detailed report of the manner in which it shall have expended 
the money provided for and appropriated for school purposes from any source 
during the last school year of said board, and such report shall be published by 
the common council as a part of the proceedings of the meeting at which it is 
submitted. The board of education shall also make reports to The University of 
the State of New York and the Department of Public Instruction of the State, 
in such manner and at such times as they may direct. 

§ II State apportionment payable to treasurer. The county treasurer of 
Erie county shall pay over to the city treasurer of the city of Tonawanda, and he 
shall receive for the use of the board of education of said city such proportion of 
the school, library and other money apportioned to the said city of Tonawanda 
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction for teachers' wages and libraries, and 
other purposes as shall by law be apportioned to said board of education or dis- 
trict. 

§ 12 Ordinance for school property. The common council of the city of 
Tonawanda shall have the power and it shall be its duty to pass such ordinances 
and by-laws as the board of education of said city shall report as necessary for 
the protection, safekeeping, care and preservation of the school buildings, and 
other property of said district and to impose such penalties for the violation of 
the same as it shall deem proper. 

§ 13 Sinking fund. The board of education may also include in the certificate 
specified in section 6 of this title, a sum, not exceeding one thousand dollars for 
the creation of a sinking fund, with which to pay the principal of the bonded 
school debt, which sinking fund shall be managed by said board of education. No 
investment shall be made in behalf of said sinking fund, except in the bonds of 
the United States, or the State of New York, or of any city of the State. 



EDUCATION CODE 399 

TITLE 2 

§ 7 Appointive officers ; terms and compensations. There shall be appointed 
by the mayor under this act, at the times and for the terms of office herein stated, 
the following officers, who shall receive for their services as such, the compensa- 
tion and salary herein stated and no other namely : . . . 

6 Six members of the board of education, two of whom shall be appointed dur- 
ing the month of January in the year 1906, and two during the month of January 
every year thereafter, and each of whom shall hold office for a term of three years 
from and including the ist day of January of the year in which he is appointed. 
Not more than three members shall be of the same political party. They shall 
serve without compensation. 

Section 9 provides that the mayor may remove any officer which he appoints 
for a term fixed by the charter and it also provides that the mayor may fill vacan- 
cies as they occur. Titles 3 and 4 relate generally to the officers of the city. Title 
13 relates to tax elections, title 14 to the issuance of municipal bonds and title 15 
to letting contracts. 



TROY 

Chapter 182, Laws of 1898 
An act for the government of cities of the second class 

ARTICLE 7 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

( This article' applies only to the cities of Albany and Troy. See Albany, page. 9.) 

Chapter 305, Laws of igo6 
An act to establish a retirement fund for pensioning retired teachers, supervisors, 
superintendents and principals of the public schools in the city of Troy, in- 
cluding union free school district number i of the town of Lansingburg, and to 
regulate the collection, management and disbursement thereof 
Section i The president of the board of education of the city of Troy, the 
president of the board of education of union free school district number i of the 
town of Lansingburg in the city of Troy, and seven teachers of the public schools 
of the city of Troy including the schools in union free school district number i 
of the town of Lansingburg, of which teachers two shall be school principals, 
shall constitute a board of trustees who shall have the general care and manage- 
ment of the public school teachers retirement fund created by this act. In the 
month following the passage of this act and in the same month in each year 
thereafter, a meeting of all the teachers, supervisors, superintendents and prin- 
cipals of the public schools of the city of Troy and union free school district 
number i of the town of Lansingburg, shall be called by the superintendent of 
schools of the city of Troy, at which time and place two school principals and 
five teachers, then in active service, shall be chosen by the assembled teachers, 
supervisors, superintendents and principals, to serve for a term of one year 
upon the board of trustees hereinbefore mentioned. The said board of trustees 
is empowered to make payment from said fund of the annuities granted in pur- 
suance of this act ; to take all necessary and proper action in the premises ; and 
to make such by-laws, rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper ; and 
to provide for the administration and investment of said fund as it may deem 
best, except that no part of said fund shall be invested in any manner except 
as approved by the mayor of the city of Troy or otherwise than as the savings 
banks of the State are by law permitted to invest their funds. All vacancies 
occurring otherwise than by expiration of term in the office of either or any 
of the seven members of said board of trustees chosen from the teachers shall 
be filled until the end of the official year by the appointment of the said board of 
trustees. In case any trustee chosen or appointed as aforesaid shall cease to be 
such teacher or principal such trusteeship shall at once become vacant. 

[400J 



EDUCATION CODE 4OI 

§ 2 The public school teachers retirement fund created by this act shall consist 
of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom, to wit : 

a Five per centum annually of the excise moneys to which the city of Troy 
may from May i, 1906 to and including April 30, 1910, be entitled by virtue 
of the provisions of the liquor tax law of the State of New York, and thereafter 
three per centum annually of the excise moneys to which the city of Troy may be 
entitled by virtue of the provisions of said liquor tax law. Said sum shall be 
paid into said pension fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of 
said city. 

b One per centum of the respective salaries paid to the superintendents of 
schools, supervisors, principals and teachers regularly employed in the public 
schools of said city and union free school district number i of the town of 
Lansingburg; except that the amount deducted from any one salary shall not 
exceed twelve dollars in any one year. 

c All forfeitures and deductions of or from the salary of any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher employed in the public schools of said city and 
union free school district number i of the town of Lansingburg, for an absence 
from duty for any cause. Such forfeitures and deductions shall be paid into 
said pension fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said city and 
said union free school district number i of the town of Lansingburg. 

d All surplus funds appropriated by said city and union free school district 
number i of the town of Lansingburg, for the payment of salaries in the depart- 
ment of education in their respective jurisdictions and remaining on hand on or 
after December 31, 1906. Such surplus shall be paid into said pension fund and 
duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said city and said union free 
school district number i of the town of Lansingburg. 

e All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to said fund, and all 
moneys which shall be obtained from other sources or by other means devised 
for the increase of said fund by said board of trustees or with their consent. 

§ 3 The boards of education of the city of Troy and union free school district 
number i of the town of Lansingburg, in making payrolls of the superintendent, 
supervisors, principals and teachers hereinbefore mentioned shall deduct from 
each and every payroll said one per centum from each and every amount payable 
in the period covered by the said payroll, and shall certify the amount of said 
deductions and the names of the persons from whose salaries such deductions 
have been made ; and such certificates shall accompany the payroll, and a warrant 
for the amount of the deductions so certified shall be drawn payable to the city 
comptroller, and shall be deposited by him with the city treasurer who shall retain 
the same, subject to the disposal of said board of trustees, as hereinafter provided. 
§ 4 The comptroller of said city shall be the custodian of said fund and the city 
treasurer shall be the treasurer thereof ; and all orders made payable from this 
fund shall be made upon the vote of said board of trustees. Said orders to be 
signed by its president and countersigned by the city comptroller and the city 
treasurer. 



402 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 5 The boards of education of the city of Troy and union free school district 
number i of the town of Lansingburg shall have power, within their respective 
jurisdictions, on the recommendation of said board of trustees, to retire from 
service to become an annuitant under this act, any superintendent, supervisor, 
principal or teacher of the public schools of said city or of said union free school 
district who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate 
period of thirty years, provided that not less than fifteen years of such service 
shall have been rendered in the public schools which are now or hereafter may 
be located within the boundaries of said city of Troy, or any such superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher who is mentally or physically incapacitated for 
the performance of duty and who has been engaged in the work of superintending, 
teaching or supervising for a period aggregating twenty years, not less than 
fifteen years of which shall have been in the public schools which are now or 
hereafter may be located within the boundaries of said city. Any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher in the public schools of said city or union free 
school district number i of the town of Lansingburg, who shall have served in 
such capacity or capacities for a period of thirty years, or who is mentally or 
physically incapacitated for the performance of duty and who has been engaged 
in the work of superintending, teaching or supervising for a period aggregating 
twenty years may, with the consent of such board of education, retire from 
service to become an annuitant under this act, provided that not less than fifteen 
years of such service shall have been performed in the public schools which 
are now or hereafter may be located within the boundaries of said city of Troy. 
Any person . retired after twenty years of service but with less than thirty years 
of service, shall receive an annuity which bears the same ratio to the annuity 
provided for on retirement for thirty years of service as the total number of years 
of service of such person bears to thirty years. 

§ 6 The said boards of education of the city of Troy and union free school 
district number i of the town of Lansingburg, shall have power within their 
respective jurisdictions, to retire from service to become an annuitant under this 
act any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who shall have served in 
such capacity or capacities for an aggregate period of thirty-seven years, provided 
that not less than fifteen years of such service shall have been rendered in the 
public schools which are now or hereafter may be located within the boundaries 
of the city of Troy, and also provided that at the time of such retirement the 
retirement fund herein created shall be adequate to pay the full annuity to v/hich 
such annuitant shall be entitled. Any such superintendent, supervisor, principal 
or teacher who shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate 
period of thirty-seven years may voluntarily retire from such service to become 
an annuitant under this act, provided that not less than fifteen years of such 
service shall have been rendered in the public schools which are now or hereafter 
may be located within the boundaries of the said city of Troy. 

§ 7 Annuities paid in pursuance of this act shall be one-half of the amount of 
the annual salary of the annuitant at the time of retirement from service, except 



EDUCATION CODE 403 

as provided in section 5 of this act, and except that no annuity shall be more 
than six hundred dollars annually ; but if the moneys at the disposal of the trustees 
of said fund be found at any time inadequate to fully carry out the provisions 
hereinabove mentioned, the trustees shall then distribute said moneys pro rata 
to the persons entitled to participate in said fund, and such distribution shall be in 
full of all annuities then due. 

§ 8 No person who shall retire or be retired to become an annuitant under this 
act shall be entitled to such annuity unless and until such person shall have 
contributed to the teachers retirement fund in pursuance of subdivision b of 
section 2 of this act, or in cash or by accumulation of the annuity to which such 
person would otherwise be entitled, or by either or all of such methods, an 
amount ecjual to at least twenty per centum of his or her annual salary at the 
time of retirement. All annuities provided for by this act shall be payable in 
monthly instalments. 

§ 9 No annuity shall be paid from the teachers retirement fund until Septem- 
ber I, 1906, but any person duly qualified who shall retire or be retired from 
service before that time, and after this act shall take effect, shall not be deemed 
to have forfeited the right to become an annuitant under the provisions of this 
act. 

§ 10 If at any time a superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher shall 
be dismissed for cause before the time when he or she would, under the provisions 
of this act, be entitled to an annuity, then said person shall be paid back, without 
interest, all the money which may have been deducted from his or her salary 
in pursuance of subdivision b of section 2 of this act. 

§ II The said board of trustees shall annually render to the comptroller of 
the city of Troy a full account of the condition of the teachers retirement fund, 
its amount, the manner of its investment and all receipts and disbursements on 
account of said fund during the year, and said comptroller shall include said 
statement in his annual report. 



UTICA 

Chapter 137, Laws of 1842 
An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica 

Section i At the next annual election for city officers to be held in the city of 
Utica, there shall be elected six commissioners of common schools for the said 
city, who shall be elected in the same manner as justices of the peace, supervisors 
and constables are elected in said city pursuant to the act incorporating said city. 

§ 2 Within ten days after their election the persons so elected shall take and 
subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution, and file the same with 
the clerk of said city; and they or a majority of them shall thereupon meet and 
cause the whole number of commissioners so chosen to be divided into three 
classes, to be severally numbered first, second, and third. The term of office of 
the first class shall expire at the end of one year, of the second class at the end 
of two years, and of the third class at the end of three years; but each class shall 
continue in office until their successors are elected, and have taken the oath of 
office. 

§ 3 At every annual election for officers of the city in said city there shall be 
elected by the electors of the city two commissioners of common schools to supply 
the places of those whose term of office is next to expire. They shall hold their 
office for three years and until there^ successors are elected and have taken the 
oath of office, except as hereinafter provided. The term of office of all com- 
missioners elected pursuant to the provisions of this act shall commence on the 
first day of January next succeeding their election, except as hereinafter pro- 
vided. The terms of the two commissioners of common schools whose term 
would expire on the second Tuesday of March, 1893, under the law as heretofore 
existing are hereby extended to January i, 1894. Their successors shall be elected 
at the annual election for officers of the city, to be held on the 7th day of Novem- 
ber, 1893, and shall take office on the ist day of January, 1894, and hold the same 
for the term of two years. The successors to the two commissioners of common 
schools whose terms would expire on the second Tuesday of March, 1894, under 
the law as heretofore existing shall be elected at the said election for officers of 
the city, to be held on the 7th day of November, 1893, and shall take office on 
the second Tuesday of March, 1894, and shall hold the same until the ist day of 
January, 1897. The successors to the two commissioners of common schools 
whose terms would expire on the second Tuesday of March, 1895, under the 
laws as heretofore existing shall be elected at the election of officers of the city, 
to be held on the Tuesday next succeeding the first Monday in November, 1894, 
and shall take office on the said second Tuesday of March, 1895, and shall hold 
the same until the ist day of January, 1898. (As amended by L. 1893, ch. 10.) 

' So in the original. [404J 



EDUCATION CODE 4O5 

§ 4 The common council of said city may make appointments of commis- 
sioners of common schools, to fill vacancies which may occur from any cause other 
than the expiration of the term of office of the persons elected. The commis- 
sioners so appointed, shall hold their office for the unexpired term of those to 
supply whose places they are appointed. 

§ 5 Any commissioner of common schools in said city may be removed from 
office for official misconduct by the common council thereof, by a vote of two- 
thirds of the members thereof. 

§ 6 The commissioners of common schools in said city shall constitute a board 
to be styled the " commissioners of common schools in the city of Utica," which 
shall be a corporate body in relation to all the powers and duties conferred upon 
them by virtue of this act; a majority of the board shall form a quorum. At 
their first meeting after the first day of January in each year, they shall elect one 
of their number chairman, and whenever the chairman shall be absent from a 
meeting of the board, they may appoint a chairman pro tempore ; they shall also 
elect a clerk who shall hold office during the pleasure of the board. The said 
commissioners shall receive no compensation for their services. {As amended 
by L. i8p2, ch. lo.) 

§ 7 The clerk of said board shall keep a record of the proceedings thereof, 
which record, or a transcript therefrom, certified by the chairman and clerk, 
shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of the facts therein set 
forth ; and such records and all the books, papers and accounts of the said board, 
shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council, and of any 
committee thereof. 

§ 8 The common council of the said city shall have the power and it shall be 
their duty to raise from time to time, by tax upon the real and personal estate in 
said city which shall be liable to taxation for the ordinary city taxes, or for town 
or county charges, such sums as may be determined and certified by the said board 
of commissioners to be neccessary and proper for any or all of the following 
purposes : 

1 To purchase, lease or improve sites and schoolhouses. 

2 To build, purchase, lease, enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and 
their outhouses and appurtenances. 

3 To purchase, exchange, improve, and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appendages. 

4 To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools 
which shall be in addition to the amount of school moneys now or hereafter 
appropriated or provided by law to be raised for common schools in said city, 
provided, nevertheless, that such tax shall be levied but once in each year and 
that the whole amount to be raised shall not in any one year exceed the sum of 
sixty thousand dollars. {As amended by L. 1844, ch. 131; L. 1834, ch. 348; 
L. 1857, ch. 5^2; L. 1867, ch. 115; L. 18/0, ch. 118: L. 1877, ch. 243; L. i88p, 
ch. 15; L. i8pj, ch. 1032; L. 1898, ch. 430; L. 1903, ch. 71.) 

§ 9 The common council shall cause the amount of the tax at any time ordered 



406 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

to be raised in pursuance of the last section, to be added to the amount which 
they are otherwise authorized by law to raise by tax in said city, and they shall 
cause the same with the collectors' fees thereon, to be assessed, levied and collected 
at the same time by the same warrant, and in the same manner with the taxes 
raised for city expenses, under and by virtue of the forty-fourth section of the 
act to incorporate said city. 

§ 10 All moneys to be raised pursuant to the provisions of this act, and all 
school moneys by law appropriated to or provided for said city, shall be paid to 
the treasurer of the said city, who together with the sureties upon his official bond, 
shall be accountable therefor in the same manner as for other moneys of the said 
city ; the said treasurer shall also be liable to the same penalties for any official mis- 
conduct in relation to the said moneys, as for any similar misconduct in relation 
to the other moneys of the city. 

§ II After the passage of this act the treasurer of the said city shall not pay 
out any moneys in his hands received by the said city, either as school moneys, 
or collected or received by virtue of any of the provisions of this act, excepting 
upon an order drawn upon him, and signed by the chairman and clerk of the said 
board of commissioners, and no such order shall be drawn except by virtue of a 
resolution of the board. 

§ 12 The said board may cause a suit or suits to be prosecuted in the name 
of the city of Utica, upon the official bond of the treasurer, or of any collector of 
the said city, for any default, delinquency or official misconduct in relation to 
the collection, safekeeping or payment of any moneys in this act mentioned. 

§ 13 The said board shall have power and it shall be their duty, 

1 To establish and organize such and so many common schools in said city 
(including the common and free schools now existing therein) as they shall deem 
requisite and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase or hire schoolhouses, and rooms and lots or sites for school- 
houses, and to fence and improve them as they deem proper. 

3 Upon such lots or sites, and upon any sites now owned by said city, to build, 
enlarge, alter, improve and repair schoolhouses, outhouses and appurtenances, as 
they may deem advisable. 

4 To procure fuel and defray the contingent expenses of the common schools, 
and the expenses of the district library of said city, which shall be in addition 
to the amount of school moneys now or hereafter appropriated or provided by 
law to be raised for common schools in said city; provided, nevertheless, that 
such tax shall not be laid oftener than once in each year, and that the whole 
amount to be raised shall not in any one year exceed the sum of ten thousand 
dollars. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses, outhouses, appara- 
tus, books, furniture and appendages, and to see that the ordinances of the 
common council in relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with and employ all teachers in the common schools and at their 
pleasure to remove them. 



EDUCATION CODE 407 

7 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the school moneys which shall be 
appropriated and provided in the said city so far as the same shall be sufficient, 
and the residue thereof from the tuition fees they shall be authorized to collect 
or receive as herein provided. And in case the said school moneys and tuition 
fees shall be insufficient to pay such wages, then to pay the deficiency out of the 
moneys to be raised by the common council of said city in pursuance of the eighth 
section of this act. (As amended by L. 1844, ch. 131.) 

8 To fix the rate of tuition fees in said schools at a sum not exceeding two 
dollars per term, which shall be a period of not less than eleven weeks, and to 
designate a person or persons to whom the same may be paid previous to issuing 
a warrant for the collection thereof ; and to exempt from the payment of the 
whole, or any part of the tuition fees, such persons as they may deem entitled to 
such exemption, for indigence or any other sufficient cause, and cause a list of 
the persons so exempted, with the extent of their exemption, to be kept by the 
clerk of the board. (As amended by L. 1844, ch. 131.) 

9 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board, including an 
annual salary to the clerk, which shall be fixed by the board ; and which shall not 
exceed five hundred dollars, provided that the accounts of said necessary expenses 
shall first be audited and allowed by the common council. (As amended by L. 
186/, ch. 11^; L. 18/O, ch. 118.) 

10 After the end of each school term to make out a rate bill containing the 
name of each person liable to pay tuition fees who shall not have paid them (prior 
to the making out of such rate bill) to the person or persons designated by the 
board for that purpose, and the amount for which such person is liable, adding 
thereto a sum not exceeding five cents on each dollar of the sum due, for 
collector's fees, and to annex to such rate bill a warrant for the collection thereof. 

1 1 To deliver such rate bill, with the warrant annexed, to one of the collectors 
of taxes of said city, who shall execute the same in like manner and with like 
effect, with the other warrants for the collection of taxes placed in his hands. 
Or in their discretion, to deliver the same to a collector to be appointed by said 
board of commissioners, who shall, if required by said board, execute to said 
commissioners in their corporate capacity, a bond, with one or more sureties, to 
be approved by said commissioners, or a majority of them, which bond, as to its 
penalty and conditions, shall be the same as is by law required to be executed by 
the collectors of school districts ; and the said board of commissioners shall have 
the same power and authority in regard to said bond and the collection thereof, as 
the trustees of school districts have by law in regard to the bonds given by 
collectors of school districts; and the said collector shall have the same power 
in the execution of said- warrant, that the collectors of taxes of said city have by 
virtue of this act. (As amended by L. 1844, ch. 131.) 

12 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management 
of the common schools in said city, and from time to time to adopt, alter, modify 
and repeal, as they may deem expedient, rules and regulations for their organiza- 
tion, government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer 



408 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

from one school to another, and generally for the promotion of their good order, 
prosperity and public utility. 

13 Whenever in the opinion of the board it may be advisable to sell any of 
the schoolhouses, lots or sites or any of the school property now or hereafter 
belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

14 To prepare and report to the common council such ordinances and regula- 
tions as may be necessary or proper for the protection, safekeeping, care and 
preservation of schoolhouses, lots, sites and appurtenances, and all the property 
belonging to the city connected with or appertaining to the schools, and to 
suggest proper penalties for the violation of such ordinances and regulations ; and 
annually to determine and certify to the said common council the sums in their 
opinion necessary or proper to be raised under the eighth section of this act, 
specifying the sums required for each of the several purposes therein mentioned. 

15 To unite with the commissioners of schools of any adjoining town, and 
form, regulate and alter any district out of any portion of the said city and such 
town, whenever they shall deem it necessary and proper to do so, in which case, 
so far as such district or districts are concerned, the said board shall, during the 
existence of such districts, have the same powers and duties which the com- 
missioners of schools in towns have. 

16 Between the first day of July and the first day of August in each year, to 
make and transmit to the county clerk a report in writing, bearing date the first 
day of July in the year of its transmission, and stating, 

1 The whole number of districts separately set off within the said city in 
pursuance of subdivision 15 of this section; 

2 An account and description of all the common schools kept in the said city 
during the preceding year and the time they have severally been taught; 

3 The number of children taught in the said schools respectively, and the 
number of children over the age of five and under sixteen years residing in the 
city on the first day of January of that year; 

4 The whole amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of the said 
city during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received from the 
county treasurer, from the town collector, and from any other and what source ; 

5 The manner in which such moneys have been expended, and whether any 
and what part remains unexpended, and for what cause ; 

6 The amount of money received for tuition fees during the year, and the 
amount paid for teachers wages, in addition to the public moneys, with such 
other information as the superintendent of common schools may from time to 
time require. 

§ 14 All persons collecting or receiving tuition fees pursuant to the designation, 
or the warrant of the said board, shall be liable for all moneys thus collected or 
received by them in the same manner as collectors are for moneys received by 
them for taxes, and any collector of the said city, and his sureties, shall be 
liable upon his official bond, for any default, delinquency, neglect or misconduct 
m the duties with which he may be charged under or by virtue of this act, in 



EDUCATION CODE 4O9 

the same manner and with the like effect as for any other official default, 
delinquency, neglect or misconduct ; and such collector shall also be liable to the 
same penalties for any such official misconduct as for any similar misconduct in 
relation to any other duties of his office. 

§ 15 The warrant annexed to any rate bill, pursuant to the provisions of this 
act, shall be under the hands of the co'mmissioners, or a majority of them, and 
shall command the collector to collect from every person in such rate bill named, 
the sum therein set opposite his name; and, in case any person so named shall 
not pay such sum on demand, to levy the same, together with the fees of said 
collector, by distress and sale of goods and chattels of the person who ought 
to pay the same, or of any goods and chattels in his possession, wheresoever the 
same may be found in the city of Utica, and to make return of such warrant to 
the treasurer of said city, within thirty days after the delivery thereof. {As 
amended by L. 1844, ch. 131.) 

§ 16 Such warrants shall have the like force and effect as warrants issued by 
the boards of supervisors to the collectors of towns, and the collectors of the 
said city are authorized to collect the amount due from any person or persons in 
the said city, in the same manner and with the same power that collectors of a 
school district have for the collection of tax or rate bills issued by the trustees of 
school districts. 

§ 17 The board of commissioners shall possess the same powers which the 
trustees of school districts have for the collection of tuition fees, which shall not 
be collected by the warrant issued by them with rate bills, and subject to the 
same regulations ; and they may in like manner as the trustees of school districts, 
correct and amend errors in making out any rate bill, and refund to any person 
any sum improperly collected in consequence of such error. 

§ 18 It shall be the duty of the said board in all their expenditures and 
contracts to have reference to the amount of moneys which will be subject to 
their order during the then current year, for the particular expenditures in 
question. 

§ 19 The said board of commissioners shall be the trustees of the district 
library in said city, and all the provisions of the act entitled "An act respecting the 
school district libraries," passed April 15, 1839, and all other laws which now are 
or may hereafter be passed relating to district school libraries, shall apply to 
the school commissioners in the same manner as if they were trustees of a 
school district comprehending the said city; they shall also be vested with the 
discretion as to the disposition of the moneys appropriated by the fourth section 
of chapter 237, of the Statutes of 1838, which is therein conferred upon the 
inhabitants of school districts. It shall be their duty to provide a library room 
and the necessary library furniture, and appoint a librarian, to make all purchases 
of books for the said library, and from time to time to exchange or cause to be 
repaired damaged books belonging thereto; they may also sell any books which 
they deem useless, or of improper character, and apply the proceeds to the 
purchase of other books for the said library. 



410 



THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 



§ 20 It shall be the duty of said board, at least fifteen days before the annual 
election for city officers in each year, to prepare and report to the common council 
true and correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of moneys under 
and in pursuance of the provisions of this act during the preceding year; in 
which account shall be stated under appropriate heads, 

1 The moneys raised by the common council under the eighth section of this 
act; 

2 The school moneys received by the treasurer of the city from the county 
treasurer and the collector of taxes for town and county charges in said city ; 

3 The moneys received for tuition fees ; 

4 All other moneys received by the treasurer subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the sources; 

5 The manner in which such moneys shall have been expended, specifying the 
amount paid under each head of expenditure ; 

And the common council shall, ten days before the said election cause the same 
to be published with the statement required to be published by the thirty-third 
section of the act to incorporate the said city. 

§ 21 The said board shall be subject to the rules and regulations from time 
to time made by the Superintendent of Common Schools so far as the same may 
be applicable to them, and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

§ 22 The common council of said city shall have the power and it shall be 
their duty to pass such ordinances and regulations as the said board of commis- 
sioners may report as necessary and proper for the protection, safekeeping, care 
and preservation of the schoolhouses, lots, sites, and appurtenances, and all the 
necessary property belonging to or conn'^cted with the schools in said city; and 
to impose proper penalties for the violation thereof, subject to the restrictions and 
limitations contained in the act to incorporate the said city ; and all such penalties 
shall be collected in the same manner that the penalties for violation of the city 
ordinances are by law collected ; and when collected shall be paid to the treasurer 
of the city, and be subject to the order of the board of commissioners, in the 
same manner as other moneys raised pursuant to the provisions of this act. 

§ 23 Whenever the said board shall report to the common council that it is 
advisable to sell any of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school 
property now or hereafter belonging to the city, it shall be the duty of the 
common council to sell the same without unreasonable delay and upon such 
terms as the said council may deen^ advisable. The proceeds of all such sales 
shall be paid to the treasurer of the city, and shall be subject to the order of the 
said board, to be expended by them in the purchase, leasing, repairs or improve- 
ments of other schoolhouses, lots, school furnrture, apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 24 The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus and 
appurtenances, and all ©ther school property hereinbefore in this act mentioned, 
shall be vested in the city of Utica ; and the same while used for or appropriated 
for school purposes shall not be liable to be levied upon or sold by virtue of any 
warrant or execution, nor be subject to taxation or assessment for any purpose 



EDUCATION CODE 4II 

whatsoever; and the said city in its corporate capacity shall be liable to take, 
hold and dispose of any real or personal estate, transferred to it by gift, grant, 
bequest or devise for the use of common schools of the said city, whether the 
same shall be transferred in terms directly to said city by its proper style or 
by any other designation or to any other designation, or to any person or 
persons or body for the use of the said schools. 

§ 25 All former acts and parts of acts in relation to common and free schools 
in the said city inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed. 

Chapter 184, Laws of 1849 
An act to amend and consolidate the several acts relating to the city of Utica 
Section 106 The board of commissioners of common schools may, from the 
moneys received by them for the school district library, defray the contingent 
expenses of the library and the salary of the librarian. For the purpose of the 
distribution of any moneys now or hereafter appropriated by the State for the 
support of common schools, in which the said city of Utica shall be entitled to 
a share, every one hundred children between the ages of four and twenty-one 
years in said city, as ascertained in the last preceding annual report of the com- 
missioners of common schools therein or otherwise, according to law, shall be 
deemed to be a school district for the purpose aforesaid, and shall be calculated 
and stated accordingly in the report of said commissioners. {As amended by 
L. 18^6, ch. 164; L. 18 j/, ch. j/2.) 

Chapter 18, Laws of 1862 

An act to revise the charter of the city of Utica 
Section 124 The act entitled "An act in relation to common schools in the city 
of Utica," passed April 7, 1842, and the several acts amending the same, shall 
continue in force, excepting where their provisions are herein expressly amended, 
any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. 

Chapter 9, Laws of 1866 
An act to provide for the erection of a new academy building in the city of Utica 
This law authorizes the city to borrow $25,000, to be paid in three equal annual 
instalments, by a tax to be levied and collected like other city taxes, the money 
to be paid on the order of the commissioners of common schools, and to be 
expended in erecting a building for the Utica Academy. 

Chapter 269, Laws of 1858 

An act respecting the school district library in the city of Utica 
Section i The commissioners of common schools of the city of Utica (ex 
officio trustees of the school district library of said city), are hereby authorized 
to make such rules and regulations, from time to time, for the better preservation 



413 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and care of the books of the said district Hbrary, as they may deem expedient; 
and may therein designate and determine such valuable books as can not be 
circulated without material injury, to be books of reference, not to be taken 
from the library rooms without the special permission of the commissioners, or 
the librarian, under their instructions, and subject to such rules and conditions as 
they may impose; and they may also exercise, and authorize the librarian to 
exercise, discretionary power as to the delivery of books to minors and irrespon- 
sible persons; any exercise of such authority by the librarian, to be a subject of 
appeal to the board of commissioners. The said commissioners may impose fines 
for the violation or nonobservance of said rules and regulation, not exceeding the 
fines authorized to be imposed by the trustees of school district libraries, under 
the general regulations respecting the same ; and the rules and regulations so 
made and adopted by them, shall be obligatory upon all persons and officers 
having charge of said library, or using or possessing any of the books thereof, 
and may be enforced in the same manner that the said general regulations con- 
cerning the books in school district libraries, framed by the superintendent under 
the act respecting said libraries, passed April 15, 1839, may be enforced. The 
said general regulations framed under the said act, shall be applicable to and 
remain in force in regard to the said library of the city of Utica, except when 
the same shall be inconsistent with the rules and regulations made by the said 
commissioners under and by virtue of this act. 

Chapter 572, Laws of 1857 
An act to amend certain acts in relation to common schools in the city of Utica 

Section 4 All claims and accounts presented to the board of school commis- 
sioners shall be in writing. They shall be numbered and filed, and a brief entry 
of the name of the claimant, number, nature and amount of the claim, made in a 
book to be kept for that purpose, prepared with appropriate letters and columns, 
so that the entry shall serve as an alphabetical index to the claim. 

The book shall be provided with columns, in which shall be entered after the 
claim, the date when audited, and the amount, if any, allowed thereon. 

The school commissioners shall annually, at least ten days before the charter 
election, report to the common council an abstract of the claims and accounts 
presented, audited and allowed during the year, as shall appear by such record, 
classifying the same under appropriate heads. 

Chapter 666, Laws of 1873 

An act to amend certain acts in relation to common schools in the city of Utica 
Besides amending several sections in the foregoing as shown above, in section 6, 
confers general authority upon the common council to borrow money in antici- 
pation of taxes voted for the erection or enlargement of schoolhouses. 



EDUCATION CODE 413 

Chapter 66, Laws of 1850 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica 
Section i The board of school commissioners of the city of Utica shall an- 
nually prepare an estimate of the amount of money necessary to be raised in said 
city, for the then ensuing year, for the payment of salaries of superintendent, 
supervisors and teachers and all other expenses of maintaining said common 
schools exclusive of the money now required, or which may hereafter be re- 
quired by law to be appropriated and apportioned from the State school money 
for the use of common schools in said city, and present the same to the board 
of estimate and apportionment of the city, and the board of estimate and 
apportionment shall include such estimate in its annual estimate of revenues and 
expenses of the city for the fiscal year ; but the sum to be raised by virtue of 
this section for salaries of superintendent, supervisors and teachers shall not 
in any year exceed in amount a sum equal to nineteen dollars for each pupil 
registered in the common schools of said city in the preceding fiscal year. Which 
sum so raised shall be called the teachers' fund. The amount which said board 
of school commissioners may determine and certify as necessary to be raised 
by taxation for all the other expenses of maintaining said common schools shall 
not exceed in any one year the sum of eight dollars for each pupil registered in 
said common schools in the preceding fiscal year. Which sum so raised shall be 
called the contingent fund. The common council of the city of Utica with the 
approval of the board of estimate and apportionment may raise by temporary 
loan in the year 1909 such sums as may be determined and certified to said 
board of estimate and apportionment by the board of school commissioners as 
necessary, in addition to the sums theretofore put into the estimate for the 
maintenance of said common schools to pay the expenses of maintaining said 
schools for said year, but provided that such sums when added to the sums put 
into the estimate shall not make either the contingent fund or the teachers' fund 
exceed the totals hereinbefore named. {As amended by L. 1852, ch. 258; L. 
i86y, ch. 115; L. 1873, ch. 666; L. 1877, ch. 243; L. 1895, ch. 998; L. 
1898, ch. 431; L. 1900, ch. 362; L. 1904, ch. 242; L. 1909, ch. 85.) 

§ 2 The said board of commissioners shall appoint a superintendent of common 
schools for the city, to hold his office during the pleasure of the board, and to 
perform such duties in the care and oversight of the schools in the city as it may 
charge him with. He shall be paid such compensation for his services as the 
board shall from time to time determine, which shall be audited and allowed as 
other town charges are in the said city. He shall have power to take affidavits 
and acknowledgments in all matters connected with the common schools of said 
city, {As amended by L. 1873, ch. 666.) 



414 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

Chapter 272, Laws of 1853 
An act in relation to the Utica Academy 

Section i After the passage of this act, the commissioners of common schools 
in the city of Utica, for the time being, shall be the trustees of the Utica 
Academy, and possess the powers and perform the duties which the present 
board of trustees thereof possess and are charged with. 

§ 2 The said academy shall be one of the common schools of the said city 
of Utica, but shall continue subject to the visitation of the Regents of the 
University, and entitled to all the rights and privileges which it has hitherto 
possessed. 

§ 3 A majority of the board of trustees shall constitute a quorum to transact 
business. 

Chapter 115, Laws of 1867 
An act in relation to the common schools of the city of Utica 
Section 3 It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the city of Utica, immediately 
upon the receipt by him of any money appropriated, raised or designed for the 
use of the common schools of said city, to deposit the same in the bank or banks 
m which he is required to deposit the moneys of the said city; and to cause the 
same to be immediately entered and continually kept in and by accounts separate 
and distinct from the general account and all other accounts of the city treasurer ; 
and he shall cause all money which shall be raised (and be received by him) for 
the purpose of buying sites and building schoolhouses in said city, to be kept, 
in manner aforesaid, in and by a separate account, distinct from the other 
moneys designed for school purposes. And the said moneys for the use of the 
said schools herein mentioned shall not be used, paid out or transferred by said 
treasurer, or in any way whatever, except upon the order of the commissioners 
of common schools in said city, in the manner now provided by law. 

Chapter 7, Laws of 1846 

An act in relation to common schools in the city of Utica 
Section i When the board of commissioners of common schools of the city 
of Utica shall be of opinion that it is necessary to erect one or more new school- 
houses, or to enlarge, or to complete or to furnish, or to make extraordinary 
repairs upon any one or more schoolhouses, or to purchase land for school 
purposes, it shall be their duty to state such necessity, with the reasons therefor, 
in a special written report to be made to the common council of said city, which 
report shall be filed with the city clerk not later than two months prior to the 
general election in said city, together with an estimate of the probable expense of 
such erection, enlargement, furnishing, completion, extraordinary repairs or 
purchase, but this act shall not be construed as preventing said board from using 
for the aforesaid purposes any of the funds properly applicable thereto by law 



EDUCATION CODE 415 

in addition to the funds provided for by this act. {As amended by L, i8/s, ch. 
666; L. i8p8, ch. 4p8; L. iqoo, ch. 36^.) 

§ 2 At the general election held in said city next after the filing of said report, 
the election officers of said city shall submit the question or questions so 
reported by said board to the electors of said city in accordance with the pro- 
visions of the general election law for submitting questions to the electors of the 
State or of any district thereof, and if the said board shall have reported more 
than one of said questions, they shall be separately submitted to said electors. 
(As amended by L. 183/, ch. 572; L. i8/s, ch. 666; L. i8p8, ch. 498.) 

§ 3 If the number of ballots in favor of any proposition so submitted exceed 
the number of ballots against the same, it shall be the duty of the common 
council in addition to the moneys which they are otherwise authorized by law 
to raise by tax in the said city, to raise in the same manner that moneys are 
now raised for the ordinary expenses thereof, either in the ensuing year or in 
one, two, or three successive years as they shall elect, such sum or sums of 
money as the board of school commissioners in their said report or reports shall 
have estimated to be probably necessary for the erection, enlargement, furnishing, 
completion, improvement or extraordinary repair of any schoolhouse or school- 
houses and for the purchase of land for school purposes, and for no other purpose 
whatever. Provided, however, that if the total amount of money voted at any 
such election for any one or more questions submitted as aforesaid shall equal 
or exceed the sum of twenty thousand dollars the common council of the said 
city shall for the purpose of raising the sum or sums so voted, forthwith, upon 
the official canvass and declaring of the result of said vote, borrow money and 
issue the corporate bonds of said city to an amount equal to the amount so 
voted. Said bonds and the interest thereon shall be made payable at such times 
and place and in such amount as may be ordered by the common council but 
none of them shall run for more than twenty years. They shall forthwith 
be signed by the mayor and clerk and shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding 
five per centum per annum. Said bonds shall not be sold for less than par, and 
out of the proceeds thereof the city treasurer shall set apart the sum voted as 
aforesaid, together with any premium received on the sale of said bonds. The 
money so set apart shall be kept by the city treasurer as a separate fund to be 
drawn upon and used by the board of commissioners of common schools of 
said city for the sole purpose of executing the work specified in the question so 
submitted and voted by the electors. Any sums remaining unexpended after the 
completion and execution of such work shall be transferred by said treasurer, 
and said board to the contingent fund of said board and thereafter be available 
for the general uses and purposes of said fund. The common council shall, in 
addition to the other moneys which they are otherwise authorized by law to 
raise by tax in said city in the annual city tax levy, and in the same manner that 
moneys are raised for ordinary city expenses, raise such sums as may be necessary 
to pay the amount of principal and interest falling due during the ensuing year 



4l6 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

on the bonds provided for in this section. (As amended by L. i8/s, ch. 666; 
L. i8p8, ch. 4p8; L. igoo, ch. 563.) 

§ 4 Such moneys when raised shall be paid to the treasurer of the city and be 
kept by him distinct from other moneys in his hands, subject to be drawn by the 
board of school commissioners for the expenses of erecting such proposed school- 
house or schoolhouses, or for the enlargement of others, and for no other purpose 
whatever, except that should any sum remain after the erection or enlargement 
of a schoolhouse or schoolhouses, the same shall be transferred by the school 
commissioners to the " contingent fund," so called. {As amended by L. i8'/2, 
ch. 666.) 



WATERTOWN 

Chapter 760, Laws of 1897 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Watertown 

TITLE VI 
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION 

Section 84 The commissioners of education selected as herein provided shall 
constitute the board of education of the city. 

§ 85 The board of education shall provide suitable accommodations and facili- 
ties for the proper instruction of the children of the city and shall have exclusive 
charge and control of the public schools of all grades in the city, subject to the 
supervision and direction vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction 
and The University of the State of New York. 

§ 86 The board of education shall have all the powers and duties now con- 
ferred or imposed by law upon its predecessor, except as modified by or incon- 
sistent with the provisions of this act and in particular, subject to the limitations 
of this act, shall have power and it shall be its duty : 

1 To organize or establish such and so many schools in said city, including the 
common schools now existing therein, as it may deem requisite and expedient and 
to alter or discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolhouses and rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses 
and to fix and improve them as the board may deem proper. 

3 Upon such lots and upon any sites now owned by said city to build, enlarge, 
alter, improve and repair schoolhouses and appurtenances, as the board may deem 
advisable. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books, furni- 
ture and appurtenances. 

5 To contract with, license and employ all teachers in such schools and at 
pleasure to remove them. 

6 To pay the wages of such teachers out of the moneys appropriated and 
provided by law for the support of common schools of said city so far as the 
same shall be sufficient and the residue thereof from the money authorized to 
be raised for that purpose by this act by tax upon said city. 

7 To provide fuel for the schools and to defray all necessary and contingent 
expenses incurred in the conduct of the schools. 

8 To have in all respects the superintendence, supervision and management 
of the schools of the city, and from time to time adopt, alter, modify and repeal 
as may be deemed expedient, the rules and regulations for their organization, 
government and instruction, for the reception of pupils and their transfer from 
one school to another and for their good order, prosperity and utility. 

[417] 
14 



4l8 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

9 Whenever in the opinion of the board it may be advisable to sell any 
schoolhouses, lots or sites now or hereafter belonging to the city, to recommend 
such sale to the common council, and when authorized by the common council 
to sell the same. 

10 To cause an enumeration of all the children between the ages of five and 
twenty-one years, residing in said city to be made between the first day of 
October and the first day of November in such alternate years as shall be required 
by the State Department of Public Instruction. (As amended by L. ipo^, ch, 

399-) 

11 To prescribe the course of study in the respective schools of the city and 
to designate the textbooks to be used therein. 

12 To provide for the examination and licensing of teachers to be employed 
in the schools of the city, subject to the laws of the State relating thereto and 
to the direction of the State Commissioner of Education. 

13 To have charge and defray the expenses of the public library and to make 
all necessary and proper regulations concerning the same, subject to the super- 
vision and direction vested in the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and 
The University of the State of New York, until such library and the title thereto 
shall be transferred to the trustees of " The Roswell P. Flower Memorial 
Library " ; the board of education shall thereupon be released from all care, 
charge and expense of said library and its maintenance ; the common council, 
upon the request of the board of education, is hereby authorized to transfer 
said library to the trustees of " The Roswell P. Flower Memorial Library." 
{As amended by L. ipoj, ch. jpp.) 

§ 87 It shall be the duty of the board of education, on the ist day of August 
in each year, to make and transmit to the State Commissioner of Education a 
report in writing, bearing date the ist day of August in the year of its trans- 
mission and stating: 

1 The number of schoolhouses in said city and an account and description of 
all common schools kept in said city during the preceding year, and the time 
they have severally been taught; the number of children taught in said schools, 
respectively, and the number of children over the age of five years and under the 
age of twenty-one years, residing in said city, on the 30th day of June in each year. 

2 The full amount of school moneys received by the treasurer of said city 
during the preceding year, distinguishing the amount received by the city treasurer 
for the school fund from the city tax and all other sources. 

3 The manner in which such moneys have been expended and whether any 
and what part remains unexpended and for what cause. 

4 The amount of moneys received for tuition fees from foreign pupils during 
the year and the amount paid for teachers' wages in addition to the public moneys, 
with such other information relating to the common schools as may, from 
time to time, be required from the State Commissioner of Education. 

§ 88 The board of education shall have power to enter into contracts with the 
school districts adjoining the city, to the end that the children of such adjoin- 



EDUCATION CODE 419 

ing districts may have the benefit of the schools of the city, upon such terms 
as may be agreed upon between the board of education of the city and the 
trustees of such adjoining districts; the tuition shall be paid therefor in such 
manner as the said board may direct, and paid immediately to the city treasurer 
for the use of said board. 

§ 89 The board of education shall have power to choose a superintendent of 
public schools, whose term of office shall be at the pleasure of the board ; such 
superintendent shall be paid such compensation as the board may determine, and 
under the direction of the board of education shall have charge of the educational 
work of all the schools of the city. 

§ 90 The course of study as prescribed by the board of education now existing 
in the city, shall continue until modified or changed by such board. 

§ 91 The board of education, as provided in section 177 of this act, shall 
submit in writing to the common council an estimate of the expenses of the said 
board for the ensuing year as follows : 

1 For the purchase, lease or improvement of sites for schoolhouses. 

2 For the building, purchase, lease, enlargement, alteration, improvement and 
repair of schoolhouses. 

3 For the purchase, exchange, improvement and repair of school apparatus, 
mineral and geological specimens, furniture and appurtenances. 

4 For fuel, insurance of school property, the expenses of the schools, the 
laboratories, cabinets, and necessary and contingent expenses of said board. 

5 For the payment of teachers' wages and salary of the superintendent of 
public schools, aside from the application of moneys which may by law be 
appropriated and provided for that purpose. 

6 For the miscellaneous expenses of the board not specifically mentioned in the 
foregoing items. 

7 An estimate of the income of said board for the ensuing year from all 
sources outside of the city tax. 

§ 92 In case the common council shall ratify the estimates of expenditures so 
submitted, the amount of such estimates shall constitute the sum to be raised 
for the board of education by taxation for the ensuing year ; the common council 
may modify any item of the estimates for expenditures so submitted, and in 
such case it shall be the duty of the city clerk to forthwith certify to the president 
of the board of education such modification; the board of education shall have 
power by the vote of two-thirds of all members thereof, at any regular or special 
meeting called for that purpose, within one week from the date of the receipt of 
the certification of the city clerk by the president of the board of education, to 
declare by resolution that the estimated amounts as submitted to the common 
council, or a less sum, in each case are necessary for the conduct of the schools 
for the ensuing year which amounts so finally determined by the board of 
education shall not exceed the sum of twenty-one dollars for the financial year 
of 1914; twenty-two dollars for the year 191 5 ; twenty-three dollars for the 
year 1916; twenty-four dollars for the year 1917, and twenty-five dollars for 



/{.20 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

the year 1918 and each year thereafter for each pupil enrolled in the public 
schools during the preceding year, of which amount, the difference between 
nineteen dollars and the maximum allowance for each pupil enrolled as given 
above may be raised in excess of the one dollar and seventy cents on every one 
hundred dollars of the assessed valuation of the taxable property of the city 
as provided in section 176 of the city charter; and it shall be the duty of the 
city clerk to forthwith certify such resolution to the president of the common 
council, in which case it shall be the duty of the common council to raise the 
amounts so determined for the purposes of the public schools, in the tax levy 
for the following year; in case the board of education shall fail to adopt such 
original estimates, or a less sum, as above provided, within one week from the 
certification by the city clerk, the amounts so modified by the common council 
shall constitute the amounts to be raised for school purposes for the ensuing year. 
The board of education shall not have power to expend any money in addition to 
the amount so authorized, and the amount of money received from the State, 
unless specifically authorized so to do in the manner hereinafter provided. In 
case the board of education shall at any time submit to the common council 
a special requisition for the purpose of purchasing a school site or sites or of 
enlarging, furnishing, repairing, building, or rebuilding a schoolhouse or houses 
or for any other necessary school improvement, and the common council shall 
within thirty days after receiving such requisition fail to grant the same out of 
the funds in its control, then the board of education by the vote of two-thirds of 
all its members may request the common council to submit to a vote of the tax- 
payers of the city a proposition to raise the sum desired by the said board for 
any or all of such purposes by special tax or bonding; and the common council 
shall forthwith submit such proposition to the taxpayers at a special election to 
be held pursuant to the provisions of section 205 of this act, and shall raise 
the amount voted by the taxpayers in accordance with and in the manner pro- 
vided by said section. The submission of such proposition at the request of 
the board of education shall not be counted or considered so as to prevent the 
common council from submitting to the taxpayers at a special election any other 
proposition during the same year. (As amended by L. 1903, ch. S99,' L. ipoj, 
ch. 486; L. 191 4, ch. 4.) 

§ 93 The moneys raised by taxes and received from all other sources on 
account of the board of education shall be paid to the city treasurer, and by 
him placed in a separate fund to be known as the " school fund," and the moneys 
so set apart shall be used only for the purposes of the public schools. 

§ 94 The school fund shall be under the control of the board of education, 
subject to the provisions of this act, and shall be paid out by the city treasurer 
only upon warrants drawn by the said board upon the city treasurer and signed 
by the president of the board of education, the city clerk and the superintendent 
of public schools, stating in every instance the name of the person or corporation 
to whom the warrant is payable, the amount thereof, what the payment is for 



EDUCATION CODE 421 

and from what fund it is to be made, with a reference to the resokition author- 
izing the payment, specifying the date thereof. 

§ 95 The superintendent of pubhc schools shall alone have authority, subject 
to the provisions of the laws of the State, to determine by examination the 
qualifications of teachers, and the board shall not employ any teacher who has 
not a certificate of qualification in writing, signed by the superintendent of public 
schools, and no teacher without such certificate shall have the right to claim 
any salary as a teacher from the board of education of the city. 

§ 96 The common council shall, upon the recommendation of the board of 
education, sell any of the schoolhouses, sites, lots or any of the school property 
now or hereafter belonging to the said city upon such terms as the common 
council may deem reasonable. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the 
city treasurer and passed to the credit of the school fund, and shall be expended 
by the board of education in the manner herein provided in the purchase, 
repair or improvement of schoolhouses, lots, sites or school furniture, apparatus 
or appurtenances. 

§ 97 The board of education shall have no power to purchase lots or sites for 
schoolhouses or to build or enlarge schoolhouses, lots or sites now or hereafter 
owned by said city unless first authorized so to do by the common council. 

§ 98 The trustees of the Jefferson county institute are hereby authorized to 
lease for a term of years, or to transfer by proper deeds of conveyance to the 
city of Watertown the property of the Jefferson county institute, real and 
personal, its appurtenances and hereditaments thereto belonging for school pur- 
poses; in case the trustees of said Jefiferson county institute shall transfer the 
said property to the city of Watertown, it may, in the deed of conveyance, 
authorize the city to sell and convey the said property upon condition that the 
proceeds of such sale be expended in the erection or enlargement of other school 
building or buildings by and under the direction of the board of education. 
(As amended by L. 190^, ch. 3pp.) 

§ 99 The high schools under the supervision of the board of education shall 
be entitled to participate in the literature, academic and other funds appropriated 
for classical scholarships and for the instruction of common school teachers 
upon proper application being made therefor, and shall be subject to the super- 
vision of the Regents of The University of the State of New York; for such 
purposes the usual reports shall be made to the Regents of such University. 



WATERVLIET 

Chapter 184, Laws of 191 1 
An act to revise the charter of the city of Watervliet 

ARTICLE xn^ 
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 

Section 165 Board of education 

166 Appointment of school commissioners 

167 Chairman of the board of education 

168 Vacancies in office of school commissioners 

169 Eligibility to office of school commissioner 

170 Meetings of board of education 

171 Superintendent of schools and librarian 

172 Duty of city chamberlain as to custody and collection of school moneys 

173 Payment of school moneys 

174 Powers of board of education 
17s Sale of schoolhouses 

176 Admission of pupils to schools 

177 Annual report to State Superintendent 2 

178 Annual statement to be published 

179 Basis for distribution of State moneys 

180 Estimated expenses to be reported to mayor 

181 Increased estimate " 

182 Academy or high school 

183 Bids to be received for work and materials 

184 Members of board not to receive compensation or to be interested in contracts 

§ 165 Board of education. The public schools within the city of Watervliet 
shall be under the management and control of a board of education to be styled 
" the board of education of the city of Watervliet." 

§ 166 Appointment of school commissioners. The mayor, within ten days 
after the passage of this act, shall appoint five school commissioners. He shall 
appoint one of these commissioners for a term ending January 15th, in the year 
1912, one for a term ending January 15th, in the year 1913, one for a term end- 
ing January 15th, in the year 1914, one for a term ending January 15th, in the 
year 191 5, and one for a term ending January 15th, in the year 1916. The mayor 
shall thereafter annually, between the ist and 15th day of January, appoint one 
school commissioner for a term of five years, who shall enter upon the term of 
his office on the i6th day of January, succeeding his appointment. The terms of 
office of the school commissioners now in office shall cease and terminate upon 
the appointment of the school commissioners provided for in this section. 



' Articles II and V relate to officers and article VII relates to contracts and supplies. 
' So in the original. 

[4.22 1 



EDUCATION CODE 423 

§ 167 Chairman of the board. The board of education shall hold a meeting 
annually on the second Tuesday in January for the purpose of organization and 
at such meeting shall elect one of their number chairman of such board. In case 
of the absence of the chairman from the city or his inability from any cause to 
attend a meeting of such board the other members present may appoint one of 
their number chairman pro tempore of such meeting. 

§ 168 Vacancies in office of school commissioner. All vacancies in the 
office of school commissioner occasioned by death, resignation, removal or other- 
wise, shall be filled by appointment by the mayor. 

§ 169 Eligibility to office. No officer of the city of Watervliet, except com- 
missioner of deeds, shall be eligible to the office of school commissioner under this 
act, and the acceptance of any such office by any such commissioner shall vacate 
his office as such school commissioner. Any member of the board of education 
may, for neglect of duty, or for either immoral or official misconduct, be removed 
from office by the said board of education by a vote of two-thirds of said board ; 
but before final action thereon, a written copy of the charges preferred against 
said member shall be served upon him, and he shall be allowed an opportunity to 
explain or refute them. Any member of said board may resign his office by giv- 
ing one month's previous notice, in writing, to the board of education, who may, 
if they deem the reason sufficient, accept the same. 

§ 170 Meetings of the board. The board of education shall meet for the 
transaction of business as often as once in each month, and may adjourn for any 
shorter time. Special meetings may be called by the mayor, or, in case of his 
absence or inability to act, by any member of the board, as often as necessary, by 
giving personal notice in writing to each member of the board, or by mailing a 
written or printed notice to his address, at least twenty-four hours before the time 
of such special meeting. A majority of the board shall constitute a quorum for 
the transaction of business. 

§ 171 Superintendent of schools and librarian. The board of education shall 
appoint a superintendent of schools and a librarian, who shall hold office during 
the pleasure of the board, and whose compensation shall be fixed by the board. 
The superintendent shall be, ex officio, secretary of the board, and shall keep a 
record of the proceedings of the board, and perform such other duties as the 
board may prescribe. The librarian shall have full charge of the library or libra- 
ries of the district, and may appoint such assistants as may be necessary, from 
time to time, and such assistants may be removed at any time by the board of edu- 
cation. The record of the board of education, or a transcript thereof, certified 
by the secretary, shall be received in all courts as prima facie evidence of facts 
therein stated, and such record, the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the 
said board shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the people of said city, 
and a transcript thereof may be taken. 

§ 172 Duty of city chamberlain as to custody and collection of school 
moneys. All moneys raised by virtue of this act, or received from any other 
source for the use of the public schools in said city, shall be safely kept by the 



424 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

chamberlain of the city of WatervHet to the credit of the school fund, until drawn 
as hereinafter provided for, and he shall, at the proper time in each year, draw 
upon the cotmty treasurer, or other proper officer, for all moneys appropriated to 
said city or the schools in said city from the common school, literature or other 
funds of this State ; and he is hereby authorized to receive the same. 

§ 173 Payment of school moneys. The chamberlain shall pay out the moneys 
received by him only upon drafts drawn by the chairman and countersigned by 
the secretary of the board of education, which drafts shall not be drawn except in 
pursuance of a resolution or resolutions of said board, and shall be payable to the 
person or persons entitled to receive the money thereon. The chamberlain, when 
required to do so by the board of education, shall make to them a written statement 
of the moneys received and disbursed by him on their account, together with the 
amount in his hands at the time of such statement. 

§ 174 Powers of board of education. The said board of education shall have 
power and it shall be their duty : 

1 To organize, establish and maintain such and so many schools in said city, 
including the common schools now existing therein, as they shall deem requisite 
and expedient, and to alter and discontinue the same. 

2 To purchase and hire schoolhouses and rooms, lots or sites for schoolhouses, 
and to fence and improve them. 

3 Upon the lots and sites owned by said city, build, enlarge, alter, improve and 
repair schoolhouses, outhouses and appurtenances as they may deem expedient. 

4 To purchase, exchange, improve and repair school apparatus, books for indi- 
gent pupils, furniture and appendages, and to provide for fuel for the schools and 
to pay the necessary insurance on buildings and school property. 

5 To have the custody and safekeeping of the schoolhouses and all school prop- 
erty, and to see that the regulations of the board in relation thereto be observed. 

6 To contract with and employ all teachers in said schools and for sufficient 
cause to remove them. 

7 To pay the salaries of such teachers out of the money appropriated or pro- 
vided by law for the support of public schools in said city, or by this act. 

8 To defray the necessary contingent expenses of the board and to pay the sala- 
ries of the superintendent and librarian. 

9 To license teachers employed in the schools of said city as provided in the 
Education Law, but no teacher heretofore duly licensed under the provisions of 
«^he Education Law, to teach within the territory of the city of WatervHet, shall 
be required to take out any other license to qualify said teacher in any of the 
schools of said city, until the expiration of the license now held by said teacher. 

10 To have, to the exclusion of all boards and officers, except the Commissioner 
of Education of this State, and the Regents of the University, the entire supervi- 
sion and management of the schools of said city, and to maintain therein an acad- 
emy or high school ; from time to time to adopt, alter, modify and repeal, as they 
may deem expedient, rules and regulations for the organization, government and 
instruction of said schools, and for the reception of pupils and their transfer from 



EDUCATION CODE 425 

one class to another or from one school to another, and generally for their good 
order, prosperity and utility. 

II Whenever, in the opinion of said board, it may be advisable to sell any 
of the schoolhouses, lots or sites, or any of the school property now, or here- 
after, belonging to the city, to report the same to the common council. 

§ 175 Sale of schoolhouses, et cetera. The common council of said city 
may, upon the recommendation of the board of education, sell any of the school- 
houses, lots or sites, or any other school property now or hereafter belonging 
to said city, upon such terms as the said board of education may deem reason- 
ble. The proceeds of all such sales shall be paid to the chamberlain of the city, 
and shall be by the said board of education again expended in the construction, 
repairs or improvements of other schoolhouses, lots, sites or school furniture, 
apparatus or appurtenances. 

§ 176 Admission of pupils to schools. The schools herein provided for 
shall be free to ah pupils between the age of 5 and 21 years who are actual resi- 
dents of said city. The board of education shall decide all questions of resi- 
dence arising under this section. The said board may allow the children of 
nonresidents to attend the schools of said city and shall prescribe the rates of 
tuition of such nonresidents, payable always in advance; provided, that if such 
nonresident pupils, their parents or guardians, shall be liable to be taxed for 
the support of said schools, on account of owning property in said city, the 
amount of any such tax paid by a nonresident pupil, his parent or guardian, 
during the same year in which the charge for tuition was incurred, shall be 
deducted from such charge for tuition. 

§ 177 Annual report to Commissioner of Education. Said board of educa- 
tion shall anually make and transmit to the Commissioner of Education a report 
in writing, which report shall be in such form and including such information 
as shall be required by the Commissioner of Education. 

§ 178 Annual statement to be published. Said board of education shall, 
on or before November 15th in each year, prepare and publish in the official 
newspaper of the city of Watervliet, if such there be, a true and correct 
statement of the receipts and disbursements under the provisions of this title 
for the preceding year ending the 31st day of October, in which account shall 
be stated, under appropriate heads : 

1 The amount of money raised by the city taxes for the support of pubhc 
schools for the current year. 

2 The school moneys received by the chamberlain of the city from the county 
treasurer. 

3 All other moneys received by said chamberlain subject to the order of the 
board of education, specifying the sources from which they shall have been 
received. 

4 The manner in which such sums of money shall have been expended, 
specifying the amount under each head of expenditures, and the person or 
persons to whom the money has been paid. 



426 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

5 Such other information as they shall deem proper in regard to the con- 
dition of the schools under their care. 

§ 179 Basis for distribution of State moneys. For the purpose of distribu- 
tion of any money now or hereafter appropriated by the State, for the support 
of common schools, or for supervisors' quotas the said city shall be entitled to 
share in all of such moneys on the basis provided in the Education Law for such 
apportionment to cities. 

§ 180 Estimated expenses to be reported to mayor. The board of education 
shall, on or before the ist day of November in each year, declare and certify to 
to the mayor of the city the amount over and above the State moneys applicable 
toward the support of common schools in said city, by them deemed necessary 
for the purposes and uses of said board during the ensuing fiscal year of the 
city, other than for building or enlarging or purchasing of schoolhouses and the 
purchase of lots and sites therefor, not, however, exceeding the sum of fifty 
thousand dollars, which amount so recommended shall be inserted by the 
common council in the next annual tax levy, unless the same shall be reduced 
by the board of estimate and apportionment when such reduced amount shall 
be inserted in the annual tax levy unless the board of education shall by a vote 
of two-thirds of its members reject the same. If such reduced amount be so 
rejected then the original amount recommended by the board of education shall 
be inserted in the tax levy. 

§ 181 Whenever the enrolment of pupils in the public schools of said city 
shall exceed the enrolment for the school year ending July 31, 1910, the board 
of education shall have authority to include in its estimated expenses to the 
mayor a sum in addition to the fifty thousand dollars provided for in the 
preceding section an amount equal to ^ewenty-six dollars per capita on the 
excess of such enrolment over the enrolment for the said year ending July 
31, 1910. 

§ 182 Academy or high school. The academy or high school established in 
connection with the school system of the city of Watervliet shall be recognized 
as one of the academies of the State, subject to the visitation of the Regents, 
and shall be entitled to participate in the distribution of the income of the 
literature fund and other funds in the same manner and upon the same condi- 
tions as other academies of the State, and the Regents of The University of 
the State of New York shall pay annually the same to said city as provided in 
the Education Law. 

§ 183 Bids to be received for work and materials. Every contract for work 
and materials, or either of them, to be performed or furnished in the erection, 
alteration, improving or repairing of school buildings, fences or outhouses, when 
the value of such work and materials, or either of them, shall exceed, in any 
contract, the sum of fifty dollars, shall be awarded by the board of education 
to the lowest bidder therefor, who shall provide satisfactory security for the 



^ So in the original. 



EDUCATION CODE 



427 



faithful performance of his duty under such contract, and the performance of 
all such work and the furnishing of all such materials, where the value of such 
work and materials, or either of them, shall exceed said sum of fifty dollars, 
shall be let by contract. Whenever it shall be necessary for said board of 
education to receive bids under the provisions of this section, it shall give 
reasonable public notice, stating the nature of the work and materials, or either 
of them required, and specifying the time and place at which such bids will 
be received by it and the security required, which shall accompany each bid, 
but said board of education shall reserve the right to reject any and all bids 
presented pursuant to this section, when public interest so requires. 

§ 184 Members of board not to receive compensation, or to be interested 
in contracts. No member of said board of education shall receive any pecuniary 
com/pensation for his services as such member, nor shall any member or officer 
of the board participate in the profits arising from any transaction or contract 
entered into by the board or any member thereof as such, or be interested 
therein in any manner whatever. Any person violating any provision of this 
section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. 

Chapter 140, Laws of igo8 * 
An act to establish a retirement fund for pensioning retired teachers, supervisors, 
superintendents and principals of the public schools in the city of Watervliet, 
and to regulate the collection, management and disbursement thereof 
Section i The president of the board of education of the city of Watervliet 
and seven teachers of the public schools of the city of Watervliet, of which 
teachers three shall be school principals, shall constitute a board of trustees, who 
shall have the general care and management of the public school teachers retire- 
ment fund created by this act. In the month following the passage of this act 
and in the same month in each year thereafter, a meeting of all the teachers, 
supervisors, superintendents and principals of the public schools of the city of 
Watervliet shall be called by the superintendent of schools of the city of Water- 
vliet, at which time and place three school principals and four teachers, then in 
active service, shall be chosen by the assembled teachers, supervisors, super- 
intendents and principals, to serve for a term of one year upon the board of 
trustees hereinbefore mentioned. The said board of trustees is empowered to 
make payment from said fund of the annuities granted in pursuance of this 
act; to take all necessary and proper action in the premises and to make such 
by-laws, rules and regulations as may be necessary or proper ; and to provide for 
the administration and investment of said fund as it may deem best, except that 
no part of said fund shall be invested in any manner except as approved by the 



"iThe teachers of this city have abandoned the local retirement act and have come under 
the general law relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section 1109-& of the 
Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of the 
teachers of this city it has been superseded by the general law. 



428 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

mayor of the city of Watervliet, or otherwise, than as the savings banks of the 
state are by law permitted to invest their funds. All vacancies occurring other- 
wise than by the expiration of term in the office of either or any of the seven 
members of said board of trustees chosen from the teachers shall be filled until 
the end of the official year by the appointment of the said board of trustees. In 
case any trustee chosen or appointed as aforesaid shall cease to be such teacher or 
principal such trusteeship shall at once become vacant. 

§ 2 The public school teachers retirement fund created by this act shall 
consist of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom, to wit : 

a Five per centum annually of the excise moneys to which the city of Water- 
vliet may from May i, 1908, be entitled by virtue of the provisions of the liquor 
tax law of the State of New York. Said sum shall be paid into said pension 
fufld and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said city. 

h One per centum of the respective salaries paid to the superintendents of 
schools, supervisors, principals and teachers regularly employed in the public 
schools of said city; except that the amount deducted from any one salary shall 
not exceed twelve dollars in any one year. 

c All forfeitures and deductions of or from the salary of any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teachers employed in the public schools of said city, for 
an absence from duty for any cause. Such forfeitures and deductions shall be 
paid into said pension fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of 
said city. 

d All surplus funds appropriated by said city for the payment of salaries in the 
department of education. Such surplus shall be paid into said pension fund and 
duly credited thereto by the proper officials of said city. 

e All donations, legacies, and gifts which shall be made to said fund, and all 
moneys which shall be obtained from other sources or by other means devised 
for the increase of said fund by said board of trustees or with their consent. 

§ 3 The board of education of the city of Watervliet in making payrolls of 
the superintendent, supervisors, principals and teachers hereinbefore mentioned 
shall deduct from each and every payroll said one per centum from each and every 
amount payable in the period covered by the said payroll and shall certify the 
amount of said deductions and the names of the persons from whose salaries such 
deductions have been made ; and such certificate shall accompany the payroll, and 
a warrant for the amount of the deductions so certified shall be drawn payable to 
the city chamberlain who shall retain the same, subject to the disposal of said 
board of trustees, as hereinafter provided. 

§ 4 The chamberlain of said city shall be the custodian of said fund; and all 
orders made payable from this fund shall be made upon the vote of said board of 
trustees. Said orders to be signed by its president and countersigned by the city 
chamberlain. 

§ 5 The board of education of the city of Watervhet shall have power, on 
the recommendation of said board of trustees, to retire from service to become 
an annuitant under this act, any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher 



EDUCATION CODE 429 

of the public schools of said city who shall have served in such capacity or 
capacities for an aggregate period of thirty years, provided that not less than 
fifteen years of such service shall have been rendered in the public schools which 
are now or may hereafter be located within the boundaries of said city of 
Watervliet, or any such superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who is 
mentally or physically incapacitated for the performance of duty and who has 
been engaged in the work of superintending, teaching or supervising for a period 
aggregating twenty years, not less than fifteen years of which shall have been 
in the public schools which are now or hereafter may be located within the 
boundaries of said city. Any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher 
in the public schools of said city who shall have served in such capacity or 
capacities for a period of thirty years, or who is mentally or physically incapaci- 
tated for the performance of duty and who has been engaged in the work of 
superintending, teaching or supervising for a period aggregating twenty years 
may, with the consent of such board of education, retire from service to become 
an annuitant under this act, provided that not less than fifteen years of such 
service shall have been performed in the public schools which are now or hereafter 
may be located within the boundaries of said city of Watervliet. Any person 
retired after twenty years of service but with less than thirty years of service, 
shall receive an annuity which bears the same ratio to the annuity provided for on 
retirement for thirty years of service as the total number of years of service of 
such person bears to thirty years. 

§ 6 The said board of education of the city of Watervliet shall have power to 
retire from service to become an annuitant under this act any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal or teacher who shall have served in such capacity or 
capacities for an aggregate period of forty years, provided that not less than 
fifteen years of such service shall have been rendered in the public schools which 
are now or hereafter m.ay be located within the boundaries of the city of Water- 
vliet, and also provided that at the time of such retirement the retirement fund 
herein created shall be adequate to pay the full annuity to which such annuitant 
shall be entitled. Any such superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who 
shall have served in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate period of forty 
years may voluntarily retire from such service to become an annuitant under this 
act, provided that not less than fifteen years of such service shall have been 
rendered in the public schools which are now or hereafter may be located within 
the boundaries of the said city of Watervliet. 

§ 7 Annuities paid in pursuance of this act shall be one-half of the amount 
of the annual salary of the annuitant at the time of retirement from service, 
except as provided in section five of this act, and except that no annuity shall be 
more than six hundred dollars, annually; but if the moneys at the disposal of the 
trustees of said fund be found at any time inadequate to fully carry out the 
provisions hereinbefore mentioned, the trustees shall then distribute said moneys 
pro rata to the persons entitled to participate in said fund, and such distribution 
shall be in full of all annuities then due. 



430 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 8 No person who shall retire or be retired to become an annuitant under this 
act shall be entitled to such annuity unless and until such person shall have con- 
tributed to the teachers retirement fund in pursuance of subdivision b of section 
2 of this act, or in cash or by accumulation of the annuity to which such person 
would otherwise be entitled, or by either or all of such methods, an amount equal 
to at least twenty per centum of his or her annual salary at the time of retire- 
ment. All annuities provided for by this act shall be payable in monthly instal- 
ments. 

§ 9 No annuity shall be paid from the teachers retirement fund until September 
I, 191 1 ; but any person duly qualified who shall retire or be retired from service 
before that time and within three years before this act shall take effect, shall 
not be deemed to have forfeited the right to become an annuitant under the 
provisions of this act. 

§ 10 If at any time a superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher shall be 
dismissed for cause before the time when he or she would, under the provisions 
of this act, be entitled to an annuity, then said person shall be paid back, without 
interest, all the money which may have been deducted from his or her salary 
in pursuance of subdivision b of section 2 of this act. 

§ II The said board of trustees shall annually render to the chamberlain of 
the city of Watervliet a full account of the condition of the teachers retirement 
fund, its amount, the manner of its investment and all receipts and disbursements 
on account of said fund during the years, and said chamberlain shall include said 
statement in his annual report. 



WHITE PLAINS 

Chapter 356, Laws of 1915 
An act to incorporate the city of White Plains 

ARTICLE X 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Section 257 City one school district 

258 Department of public instruction 

259 Meetings of board and appointment of president and clerk 

260 Powers and duties of board of education 

261 Purchases exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars 

262 Superintendent of schools 

263 Powers and duties of superintendent of schools 

264 Appointment of teachers 

265 New sites and new buildings 

266 School budget 

267 Preparation, revision and approval of budget 

268 School funds 

§ 257 City one school district. The territory included within the boundaries 
of the city of White Plains shall constitute and be one union free school district. 
Such school district shall be entitled to and have all the rights, powers, privileges, 
public moneys and other benefits conferred by larw or otherwise upon schools and 
union free school districts and shall be subject to all the rules and regulations, in- 
spection and superintendence applicable to schools and union free school districts, 
except as herein provided. 

§ 258 Department of public instruction, i A department of public instruc- 
tion in and for the city of White Plains is hereby established. The affairs of said 
department shall be under the general management and control of a board of 
education, composed of five members, to be called the members of the board of 
education and to be elected as hereinafter provided. 

2 No person shall be eligible to the offtce of member of the board of education 
who has not been a resident of the city or of the territory comprised within the 
city for a period of at least five years immediately preceding the date of his 
appointment. 

3 Within ten days after this act takes effect the mayor shall appoint five mem- 
bers of the board of education as follows: One to serve until April i, 1916, one 
to serve until April i, 191 7, one to serve until April i, 19 18, one to serve until 
April I, 1919, one to serve until April i, 1920. 

4 Thereafter, on or before the 31st day of March or^ each year preceding the 
expiration of the term of office of a member of the board of education, the mayor 
shall appoint a successor to hold oflfice for a term of five years from and including 
the 1st day of April in the year in which he is appointed. 

^ So in original. [43il 



432 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

5 If a vacancy occurs in the office of a member of a board of education, the 
mayor shall fill such vacancy by the appointment of a member for the remainder 
of such term. 

6 Such members of the board of education shall serve without pay. 

§ 259 Meetings of board and appointment of president and clerk, i Upon 
the appointment of said members of the board of education, the superintendent of 
schools shall call a meeting of the board to be held at the rooms usually occupied 
by the board of education by giving at least three days' written notice to each 
member thereof, and stating the hour at which the meeting will be held. At such 
meeting the board shall elect one of its members president who shall exercise all 
the powers usually incident to such office. Such board shall also appoint a suit- 
able person, other than a member thereof, secretary of such board, shall determine 
his duties, and shall fix his compensation. 

2 The annual meeting of said board shall be held on the first Tuesday in April 
at which time the board shall select its president and secretary for the ensuing 
year. 

3 Said board shall also fix a time for holding regular board meetings and shall 
prescribe a method for calling special meetings of such board. 

§ 260 Powers and duties of board of education. The board of education 
shall possess the following powers and be charged with the following duties : 

1 To perform any duty imposed upon boards of education or trustees of com- 
mon schools under the Education Law or other general statutes, or the regulations 
of The University of the State of New York or the Commissioner of Education, 
relating to public education so far as they may be applicable to the schools of a 
city of such classes and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. 

2 To appoint a qualified person other than a member thereof, superintendent 
of schools, and determine the salary of such superintendent. 

3 To appoint from time to time, as required by law, such teachers, medical in- 
spectors, nurses, attendance officers, janitors, and such other experts in educa- 
tional work, and such other employees, as said board shall determine necessary 
for the efficient management of the schools, and to fix their compensation. 

4 To have the care, custody and safe-keeping of all school property, real and 
personal, except as herein provided, and to prescribe rules and regulations for the 
preservation and protection of such property. 

5 To provide such school apparatus, maps, globes, furniture and other equip- 
ment as may be necessary for the proper and efficient management of such schools, 
and also to provide free textbooks and other supplies to all the children attending 
the schools of such city. 

6 To provide such free elementary schools, high schools, night schools, open- 
air schools, vocational and industrial schools, part-time or continuation schools, 
vacation schools, schools for the mentally and physically defective children, and 
schools for adults as such board shall determine necessary. 

7 To provide school libraries which may be open to the public, and to establish 



EDUCATION CODE 433 

and equip playgrounds, athletic centers, social centers, lecture courses, and read- 
ing and recreation rooms whenever financial provision shall be made therefor by 
the municipal authorities. 

8 To determine the general courses of study which shall be given in the schools 
and to approve the context of such courses before they become operative. 

9 To determine and adopt the textbooks to be used in the schools, upon the 
recommendation of the superintendent of schools. 

10 To prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the conduct of the 
proceedings of said board and for the general management, control and discipline 
of the schools. 

11 To make all ordinary repairs of buildings and grounds where no single 
item of such repairs exceeds two hundred and fifty dollars. 

§ 261 Purchases exceeding two hundred and fifty dollars. All supplies or 
material purchased for the school system, the purchase price of which exceeds 
two hundred and fifty dollars, shall be made by the commissioner of public works, 
on the recommendation and approval of the board of education. 

§ 262 Superintendent of schools, i No person who is not employed as a 
superintendent of schools in a city in this State at the time this law goes into 
effect shall be eligible to the position of superintendent of schools who is not a 
graduate of a college approved by The University of the State of New York, and 
who has not had at least five years' successful experience in teaching or in the 
supervision of schools. 

2 The superintendent of schools shall hold office for a period of six years. 
Charges of incompetency, maladministration or misconduct in office may be pre- 
ferred in writing against the superintendent. Thereupon the board shall proceed 
to hear such charges and if such charges are sustained by an affirmative vote of 
a majority of the board, the superintendent shall be dismissed from his office. 

§ 263 Powers and duties of superintendent of schools. The superintendent 
of schools shall possess the following powers and be charged with the following 
duties : 

1 To enforce all provisions of law and all rules and regulations relating to the 
management of the schools and to be the chief executive officer of the school 
system. 

2 To prepare an outline, and the scope of the work to be included therein, for 
each of the courses of study authorized by the board of education, and to submit 
the same to such board for its approval, and, when thus approved, to see that 
such courses of study are used in the grades and schools for which they are 
authorized. 

3 To recommend to the board of education suitable textbooks to be used in the 
various grades and subjects taught in the curriculums of the schools. 

4 To transfer teachers from one school to another, or from one grade to 
another. 

5 To have general supervision over all the teachers employed in the schools, 
and over all other employees of the board of education, and to report to said 
board violations of regulations and cases of insubordination, and to suspend a 



434 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

teacher or other employee until the next regular meeting of the board, when all 
facts relating to the case shall be submitted to the board for determination. In 
such cases the accused party shall have the right to appear before the board. 

6 To have general supervision and direction over the enforcement and ob- 
servance of the courses of study, and the examination and promotion of pupils. 

7 To have general supervision and direction over the work of all special ex- 
perts employed in the school system and over matters pertaining to playgrounds, 
medical inspection, athletic and social center work, libraries, and all the educa- 
tional activities under the management of the board of education. 

§ 264 Appointment of teachers, i The principal of each school, directors, 
supervisors and other educational experts, shall be appointed by the board of 
education, upon the recommendation of the superintendent of schools, and shall 
hold their positions during good behavior and shall be removable for cause only, 
after a hearing, by the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the board. 

2 All other teachers shall be appointed, on recommendation of the superin- 
tendent of schools, for a probationary period of not to exceed two years. At the 
expiration of such term, the superintendent of schools shall make a written re- 
port to the board of education recommending for regular appointment those 
teachers whom he has found competent and efficient. The board of education 
may thereupon appoint to the teaching force of the city those teachers for whom 
satisfactory reports are submitted by the superintendent of schools. Thereafter,, 
such teachers shall hold their positions during good behavior and shall be re- 
movable for cause only, after a hearing, by the affirmative vote of a majority of 
the board. 

3 No teacher shall be appointed to the teaching force of any such city who does 
not possess the qualifications prescribed under the Education Law and under the 
regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of Education for the certification of 
teachers employed in the schools of the cities of the State. 

4 On and after January i, 1916, the minimum annual salary of teachers em- 
ployed in all elementary schools shall be six hundred and fifty dollars and in all 
secondary schools seven hundred and fifty dollars. The superintendent of schools 
shall make an annual written report to the board of education stating the names 
of those teachers whom he has found to be competent and to have rendered 
efficient service. The salary of each elementary teacher included in such report 
shall thereupon be increased annually in the sum of fifty dollars for each year of 
such employment, until the annual salary of each such teacher shall equal the sum 
of nine hundred dollars and the salary of each secondary teacher shall be in- 
creased annually in the sum of fifty dollars for each year of such employment 
until the annual salary of each such teacher shall equal the sum of twelve hun- 
dred dollars. 

5 A teacher whose name is not included in the report of the superintendent of 
schools as doing efficient work for two successive years shall be discontinued as 
a member of the teaching force of the city unless a majority of the members of 
the board of education shall vote to retain such teacher. 



EDUC.\TION CODE 435 

6 The common council shall have authority, on the recommendation of the 
board of education, to increase the salaries to be paid the teachers of such city 
above the amount expressed in the preceding subdivision. 

§ 265 Nev^r sites and new buildings, i Whenever, in the judgment of the 
board of education, the needs of the city require a new school building, or when- 
ever one of the present buildings should be repaired, remodeled or enlarged, such 
board shall pass a resolution specifying in detail the necessities therefor, and shall 
estimate the amount of money necessary for such purpose, and shall forward 
such resolution and estimate to the mayor and the common council. 

2 Whenever, in the judgment of the board of education, it is necessary to 
select a new site, or to enlarge a present site, or to designate a playground, or 
athletic center, such board shall pass a formal resolution stating the necessity 
therefor and describing by metes and bounds the grounds or territory desired for 
each of these purposes. Such resolution, when adopted, shall be forwarded to 
the mayor and the common council. 

3 The common council shall thereupon consider such resolutions and may 
call for such additional information from the board of education as appears 
necessary. The common council may authorize the issuance of bonds to raise 
funds to meet the expenses to be incurred for any of such purposes. If a bond 
issue is authorized for such purpose, the city authorities shall issue such bonds 
pursuant to the provisions of law and in the form for which bonds are issued 
for all city purposes. 

4 The plans and specifications for repairing, remodeling, or enlarging a school 
building, and for the construction of new school buildings shall be prepared by the 
engineering department of the city. The common council may, however, obtain 
such plans and specifications through competition or such board may authorize 
the employment of an architect to prepare such plans and specifications. 

5 No school building shall be constructed, no grounds shall be improved or 
otherwise changed, and no school building shall be remodeled, repaired, or en- 
larged until the plans and specifications therefor are submitted to the board of 
education and approved by a majority vote of that body. 

6 The construction, repairing and remodeling of school buildings and the con- 
struction, repairs, purchase or improvements of buildings, sites and other prop- 
erty authorized under the provisions of this act and the awarding of contracts 
therefor shall be in accordance with the provisions of law governing the construc- 
tion, repairs, and improvements of public works and municipal buildings in said 
city. 

§ 266 School budget. On or before the ist day of July in each year the 
board of education shall prepare a budget for the ensuing calendar year, of such 
sums of money as it may deem necessary for the following purposes, after de- 
ducting therefrom the amount anticipated in the next apportionment of school 
funds from the State: 

I The salary of the superintendent of schools, of all teachers, of all profes- 
sional experts, of all medical inspectors and nurses, of truant officers, of janitors, 



436 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and of all other employees of the school system, appointed or employed by the 
board of education. 

2 All other necessary incidental and contingent expenses including the ordi- 
nary repairs of buildings, the purchase of fuel and light, supplies, textbooks, 
repairs and purchases of school apparatus, books, furniture and fixtures, and 
other articles and service necessary for the maintenance, operation, and support 
of the school system of the city. 

§ 267 Preparation, revision and approval of budget, i The board of edu- 
cation shall give the mayor official notice of its meeting at which the aforesaid 
budget is prepared, and the mayor may attend such meeting and shall be accorded 
the right of inquiry into any item of such budget, and all the privileges in said 
meeting of the members of said board except the privilege of voting. When 
the board of education shall have finally determined on the statement of expenses 
for the items indicated in the preceding section, it shall present the same to the 
mayor, or the acting mayor, of the city. If the mayor, or acting mayor, approves 
such statement he shall sign it and immediately file it with the city clerk. 

2 If the mayor disapproves the same, or any item therein, he shall within five 
days- return such budget to the president of the board of education with his 
objections thereto indorsed thereon. The board shall then proceed to reconsider 
said budget and if five of the members of said board vote in favor of said budget 
it shall stand as if it had been approved by the mayor, and shall immediately be 
filed with the city clerk. If five of the members of said board do not vote for 
the adoption of such budget, it shall be modified so as to conform to the views 
expressed by the mayor in his objection, or the board shall present to the mayor, 
as in the first instance, a new budget. 

3 If the mayor approves such new budget, he shall sign it and file it with the 
city clerk, but if the mayor does not approve any item therein he shall within 
three days return the same with his objections as before. The board of educa- 
tion shall continue to present budgets as aforesaid until the mayor's approval is 
obtained, or until five of the members of said board vote in favor of such budget 
over the mayor's objection. Such budget,, when thus approved or passed, shall 
be filed with the city clerk. If the mayor fails to sign a statement of the budget 
required as herein provided, or fails to return the same with his objections thereto 
to the board of education within five days after its submission to him, such state- 
ment shall be filed with the city clerk in the same manner as if it had been ap- 
proved. 

4 When such statement is finally filed with the city clerk, the common council 
for said city shall include in the annual tax and assessment roll for such year 
the amount specified in such final statement, and the same shall be collected by 
the commissioner of finance, who shall credit it to the school funds of the depart- 
ment of public instruction. 

§ 268 School funds, i Public moneys apportioned to said city, or belonging 
to said city and received from any source whatsoever, and all funds raised or 
collected by the authorities of said city for school purposes or to be used by the 



EDUCATION CODE 437 

board of education for any purpose authorized in this act, shall be paid to the 
commissioner of finance of such city, who shall keep the same separate from the 
general funds of the city and shall credit all such funds to the department of 
public instruction. 

2 Such funds shall be disbursed by a vote of the board of education and upon 
written orders drawn on the commissioner of finance, which orders shall be 
signed by the superintendent of schools and the secretary of the board of educa- 
tion. Such orders shall be numbered consecutively and shall specify the purpose 
for which they are drawn and the person or corporation to whom they are pay- 
able. All purchases made under the provisions of section 261 of this act shall 
be paid by the board of education, after such purchases have been delivered to 
and accepted by such board, and when the bills therefor are submitted in itemized 
form and approved by the board or body authorized to make such purchase. All 
claims shall be audited by the commissioner of finance. 

3 It shall be unlawful for the commissioner of finance of said city to permit 
the use of such funds for any purpose other than that for which they are author- 
ized. The commissioner of finance shall render to the board of education a 
monthly statement showing the amount of funds available and the specific pur- 
poses for which they may be expended. 



§ 292 Apportionment of State and county taxes. . . . Said board of 
supervisors, shall also, at their first annual session after the passage of this act, 
fix and determine the proportional share or amount of the floating and bonded 
indebtedness of the several school districts, part of which are included in said 
city, incurred and existing at the time of the passage of this act, to be chargeable 
upon the city of White Plains, and the proportional share or amount thereof 
chargeable to the part of each of such several school districts, not included m 
the boundaries of said city. 

Said board of supervisors, in determining the proportion which shall be charge- 
able to said city and school districts not included in the boundaries of said city, 
shall be governed by the proportion of the assessed valuation of the property 
of said city and several school districts not included in the boundaries of said 
city, and the amount chargeable to the city of White Plains shall bear such pro- 
portion to the whole amount of such floating and bonded indebtedness as the 
assessed valuation of the property in said city of White Plains, formerly in such 
school district, bears to the aggregate amount of the assessment roll of such school 
districts, respectively, on the last preceding assessment roll of such school dis- 
trict. The portion of the indebtedness so apportioned shall become a charge for 
principal and interest upon the city of White Plains and the respective towns 
and school districts as though the same had been incurred by said city, towns 
and school districts separately. After the passage of this act the said city of 
White Plains, shall, for all purposes relating to the assessment and collection of 
taxes, be and constitute a separate and distinct township in said county of 
Westchester. 



438 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

§ 295 Collection of taxes. This act shall in no wise apply to or affect the 
collection of the town, county or State, village or school taxes, the warrant for 
• collection of which may be in the hands of the receiver of taxes of the towns of 
North Castle and Greenburgh, and all steps and means now provided by the 
statute for the collection of said taxes may at any time hereafter be taken and 
enforced as is now provided by statute for delinquent taxes, and when the same 
shall be collected they shall be disposed of in the same manner as though this 
act had not become a law, except as otherwise provided by this act. 

§ 297 Towns of North Castle and Greenburgh, and school districts con- 
tinued. The balance of the towns of North Castle and Greenburgh, not included 
within the bounds of the city of White Plains, shall be separate and distinct towns 
with all the rights and privileges of a town as provided by law and shall be 
known as the towns of North Castle and Greenburgh ; and the portions of the 
several school districts not included in the boundaries of said city shall be sepa- 
rate and distinct school districts with all the rights and privileges of a school dis- 
trict as provided by law ; all officers of said towns and school districts who shall 
be residents of the same as hereby altered shall continue to hold their offices 
for the time and in the manner prescribed by law ; all officers holding office either 
by election or appointment, who shall cease to be residents of the towns of North 
Castle and Greenburgh, or of the several school districts, in consequence of the 
alteration of said towns and school districts hereby shall be deemed to have 
vacated their offices from the day when this act shall take efifect, as if they had 
removed from the towns or school districts, except as in this act otherwise pro- 
vided. All vacancies caused as above stated shall be filled by the respective town 
board and school districts as provided by law. 



YONKERS 

Chapter 452, Laws o£ igo8 

An act to supplement the general laws relating to the government of the city 

of Yonkers, and to revise and consolidate the local laws relating thereto 

ARTICLE IX 

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 

Section i The title of the schoolhouses, sites, lots, furniture, books, apparatus, 
appurtenances, and of all other school property, connected with or constituting 
part of the public school system of the city shall be vested in the city of Yonkers. 
The city may in its corporate capacity take and hold any personal or real 
property transferred to it by grant, gift, devise or bequest, in trust, for the 
benefit of the schools of the city, or any of them, whether said property be 
transferred in terms to said city, by its corporate name, or by any other 
designation, or to any person or body for the benefit of said schools or any of 
them. 

§ 2 The head of the department of public instruction shall be the board of 
education, which shall be composed of fifteen trustees, residents of the city. 
The term of office of each trustee shall be five years, and shall commence on 
the I St day of July following his appointment. The trustees now in office shall 
continue to serve for the balance of the terms for which they were respectively 
appointed, and between the ist and 15th days of June in each year, the mayor 
shall appoint by a certificate in writing filed in the office of the city clerk, three 
trustees to succeed the trustees whose terms of office shall expire in such year. 
Trustees of the board of education shall be deemed city officers. 

§ 3 The annual meeting of the board shall be held on the second Tuesday of 
July in each year at eight o'clock in the afternoon. At such meeting, the board 
shall appoint by ballot from their number a president and vice president to 
serve for one year, and a secretary and assistant secretary, who shall not be 
members of the board, to serve during its pleasure. 

§ 4 The board of education shall appoint as herein provided, to serve during 
its pleasure : 

a A superintendent of public schools. 

b All school principals and teachers. 

c All janitors and compulsory education officers, subject to the restrictions 
imposed by the general laws of the State. 

d Such other officers and employees as it may deem necessary for the proper 
discharge of its administrative duties. 

§ 5 The board shall establish, control, maintain and provide for the public 
schools, the public school system, and the general educational interests of the 

[439] 



440 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

city, and manage and control the property, real and personal, which belongs to 
the city and is used for the purposes of education, subject only to the general 
statutes of the state relating to public schools and public school instruction and to 
the provisions of this act. 

§ 6 The board shall have power: 

a To establish, control and maintain kindergartens, common schools, high 
schools, manual training and industrial schools, including provision for special 
studies and social improvement, vacation schools, training schools for teachers, 
and truant schools ; to discontinue or consolidate schools ; and to supervise, 
maintain and equip playgrounds established by the common council. 

h To change the grades of any or all schools, and to adopt and modify 
courses of study therefor, 

c To license teachers for the schools of the city, and to fix a standard of 
qualifications as a necessary requirement for the service of all principals and 
teachers in the schools of the city, which requirement may be higher but not 
lower than the minimum qualifications required by the laws of the State and 
the provisions of this act. 

d As hereinafter provided, lease or improve sites for schoolhouses ; to build, 
purchase, lease, enlarge, improve, alter and repair schoolhouses and appurte- 
nances; to purchase, improve, exchange and repair schools, apparatus, books, 
furniture and appendages ; and in general to provide for all the requirements 
of the schools under its control. 

e To fill for the unexpired term any vacancies which may occur in the offices 
or positions by it appointed or filled. 

/ To allow the children of persons not residents of the city to attend the 
schools under the care and control of the board, upon the payment of such 
tuition and upon such terms as the board may by resolution prescribe. 

g To adopt rules and regulations for the proper transaction of its business ; 
for defining the duties of its officers and employees, and for the proper execution 
of all powers vested in and duties imposed upon it by law. 

h To fix within the proper appropriation of moneys therefor, the salary and 
compensation of all officers and employees appointed by it; provided, however, 
that nothing herein contained shall prevent said board from contracting for the 
services of any of its appointees for a period not exceeding one year, beginning 
on the 1st day of September in any year, at a definite compensation payable in 
equal monthly instalments. {As amended by L. igog, ch. 365.') 

§ 7 Under the direction of the board, the secretary shall have charge of the 
rooms, books, papers and documents of the board, except such as pertain to 
the office and duties of the superintendent. He must perform such duties as 
may be required of him by the board, its committees or members. He shall 
have the right to administer oaths and take acknowledgments, but without fee. 
He shall be the clerk of the board, and must keep or cause to be kept a record 
of the proceedings thereof. He must also keep or cause to be kept a set of 
records, showing the receipts and expenditures of the board. Said expenditures 



EDUCATION CODE 44I 

must be subdivided so as to show the cost of maintaining each school separately 
and the supplies used therein. He must also keep or cause to be kept a series 
of receipts, to be signed by either the principals or janitors, certifying to all 
repairs and improvements made and all supplies received for the respective 
buildings and premises. All the books, accounts, vouchers and papers of the 
board must at all times be subject to the inspection of the common council and 
of any committee thereof. A copy of any record of the board certified by the 
president, secretary or assistant secretary may be used in evidence in the same 
manner as if the original was produced. The assistant secretary shall be 
vested with the powers and perform the duties of the secretary during the 
absence or incapacity of the secretary and shall perform such other duties as 
may from time to time be assigned to him by the board. 

§ 8 No person shall be ehgible to be appointed as superintendent, unless he 
is a graduate of a college or university recognized by the Regents of the State 
of New York, and has had at least ten years' experience as a practical educator. 

§ 9 Under the direction of the board, the superintendent shall have power, 
and it shall be his duty to enforce the laws of the State applicable to the public 
schools of the city and all the rules and regulations of the board, except as herein 
provided. He must visit the schools of the city as often as he can consistently 
with his other duties, and inquire into the character of the instruction, management 
and discipline, and provide suitable registers, blanks, forms and regulations for 
making all reports and for conducting all necessary business connected with the 
school system, and he must cause the same, with such information and instruction 
as he deems conducive to the proper organization and government of the schools to 
be transmitted to the persons entrusted with the execution of the same. He must 
report to the board from time to time, as he may be required or deem necessary, 
a statement of the condition of the schools and all such matters relating to his 
office, and such plans and suggestions for the improvement of the schools and for 
the advancement of public instruction in the city, as he may deem expedient. 
He must recommend the number of teachers necessary for each of the several 
schools and must nominate for appointment all principals, teachers, special 
teachers and supervisors. He may, whenever occasion requires, and unless 
otherwise directed by the board, appoint supply teachers and assign them to 
duty, and he may temporarily transfer principals, teachers and pupils from one 
school to another. It shall be his duty to maintain proper discipline in the 
management and conduct of the schools and he may in his discretion suspend 
for a period not longer than till the next stated meeting of the board any 
pupil guilty of misconduct or insubordination, and shall report such suspension at 
the next stated meeting of the board. It shall be his duty to report to the 
board inefficiency of principals, teachers and employees. He must enforce the 
compulsorv education law and direct compulsory education officers m the 
discharge 'of their duties. At the annual meeting of the board, he shall present 
an annual report, giving an account of the duties he has performed dunng the 



442 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

year, together with such recommendations for promoting the usefulness and 
success of the schools as he may deem proper. The report shall show the 
number and names of teachers employed in the several schools of the city, 
the salary paid to each, the length of time each has taught in the city, the number 
of pupils enrolled in each of the schools, and the average attendance — which 
report shall be printed by the board. 

§ ID It shall be the duty of the board to prepare and transmit to the common 
council within ten days after the close of the fiscal year, its annual report, which 
shall contain correct statements of the receipts and disbursements of money 
during such fiscal year, in which account must be stated under appropriate 
heads : 

a The money raised by the common council under the provisions of this act. 

b The school moneys received by the city treasurer from the county treasurer 
or the state. 

c All other moneys received by the city treasurer, subject to the order of the 
board, specifying the same and the sources thereof. 

d The manner in which sums of money have been expended, specifying the 
amount paid under each head of expenditure, and whether any part of any such 
fund remains unexpended. 

e Whether any and what claims or bills against the department, or obligations 
incurred by said department, remain unpaid. 

/ A full account of the condition of the teachers retirement fund, its amount, 
the manner of its investment, and all receipts and disbursements on account of 
said fund during the year. With such report shall be transmitted the annual report 
of the superintendent to the board of education. 

§ II Whenever the board of education shall deem it advisable to purchase or 
improve land for school purposes, or to build, enlarge, improve or alter school- 
houses and appurtenances, or make any other improvement or extension of the 
school system, it shall submit to the common council and to the board of estimate 
and apportionment a statement setting forth such purchase, improvement or 
extension of the school system deemed by it advisable. If such purchase, im- 
provement or extension shall be approved by the common council and by the 
board of estimate and apportionment, the board of education shall thereafter pro- 
ceed with such purchase, improvement or extension, and may acquire or improve 
such lands or let contracts for the construction or other improvement of school 
buildings or property. After such approval the common council shall have 
power from time to time, by ordinance, which before it shall take effect shall 
be approved by the board of estimate and apportionment, to authorize bonds of 
the city to be issued and sold in the manner provided by law and the proceeds 
thereof applied to the payment of the cost of any such purchase, improvement 
or extension or to the payment of temporary loans or notes or certificates of in- 
debtedness incurred or issued as hereinafter provided. The common council 
shall also have power by ordinance, which before it shall take effect shall 



EDUCATION CODE 443 

be approved by the board of estimate and apportionment, to authorize the comp- 
troller to borrow from time to time in the name and on the credit of the city, 
moneys to the extent required to pay such cost, or to repay any moneys bor- 
rowed under this section with interest thereon when not represented by bonds, 
and to issue notes or certificates of indebtedness of the city, or both, payable 
either on demand or at a fixed time not more than six months from the date 
thereof and bearing interest not exceeding six per centum per annum; and to 
sell the same at public or private sale, or to pledge the same as collateral for 
temporary loans. (As amended by L. ipop, ch. 36^.) 

§ 12 Whenever the board of education shall report to the common council 
that it is unable to purchase real estate, rights or easements deemed necessary by 
it for school purposes, the common council may pass an ordinance containing a 
description of the real estate, rights or easements to be acquired, and declaring 
its intention to acquire the same, and that it deems the same necessary for munic- 
ipal purposes, and directing the corporation counsel to institute condemnation pro- 
ceedings for the acquirement of the same. 

§ 13 Whenever the board shall intend to cause any work to be performed or 
to purchase any supplies, it shall be the duty of the officers or employees of the 
board having jurisdiction thereof to procure estimates of such work or supplies 
from two or more competitors whenever practicable, and report such estimate to 
the board for its consideration and action. The board may, in its discretion, ac- 
cept any bid which is most advantageous to the city and thereupon cause a con- 
tract therefor to be executed in the name of the city by the president of the board ; 
or it may reject any or all bids, as the interests of the city require. 

§ 14 In case of emergency requiring the closing of a school building unless 
immediate repairs thereto are made, the board may cause repairs thereto to be 
made without a contract therefor, or may let a contract therefor without advertis- 
ing or receiving bids, upon filing with the comptroller a certificate approved by the 
mayor showing such emergency and the necessity of repairs. 

§ 15 The board shall be the trustee of the school library or libraries in the 
city, and all the provisions of the law now or hereafter passed relative to public 
school libraries apply to the board. It shall be vested with the same discretion 
as to the disposition of all moneys appropriated by any law of the State for the 
purchase of school libraries which is therein conferred upon the inhabitants of a 
school district. It shall be the duty of the board to provide for the safekeeping 
of the school library or libraries. 

§ 16 Upon recommendation of the board of education, the sale of school- 
houses, lots or sites, or any other school property, may be authorized by ordinance 
of the common council as provided by law in relation to other sales of real prop- 
erty. The proceeds of such sales must be paid to the treasurer to the credit of 
the funds of the department of public instruction. 

§ 17 The public schools shall be- free to ail -chiUdren between the ages of 5 



444 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

and 21 years residing in the city, and the evening sohools shall be free to all 
persons over 5 years of age residing in the city. Children under 5 years of age 
may be admitted to the kindergarten classes of the public schools. 

§ 18 The Yonkers Public School Teachers Retirement Fund Association is 
hereby established. The board of education shall constitute a board of trustees 
who shall have the general care and management of the public school teachers 
retirement fund created by this act. The public school teachers retirement fund 
shall consist of the following moneys with interest or income therefrom : 

a All donations, legacies and gifts which shall be made to the said fund. 

h One per centum per annum of the respective salaries paid to the superin- 
tendent of schools, supervisors, principals, teachers, registrars and janitors regu- 
larly employed in the public schools of Yonkers, and who may elect to become 
members of this association within one month after the passage of this act, or if 
not now in the employ of the city, within one month of the time of his or her 
appointment hereafter. 

c Five per centum annually of the excise moneys to which the city of Yonkers 
may be entitled by virtue of the provisions of the liquor tax law of the State of 
New York, which sum shall be paid into said pension fund and duly credited 
thereto by the proper officials of the city. 

d All forfeitures and deductions of or from the salary of any superintendent, 
supervisor, principal, teacher, registrar or janitor employed in the public schools 
of the city. Such forfeitures and deductions shall be paid into said retirement 
fund and duly credited thereto by the proper officials of the city. 

The comptroller shall be the custodian of said fund and the city treasurer shall 
be the treasurer thereof, and all orders made payable from said fund shall be 
made upon the vote of said board of trustees, said orders to be signed by its 
president and countersigned by the comptroller and city treasurer. The comp- 
troller shall invest for the benefit of the retirement fund all the moneys not neces- 
sary for the payment of annuities. Such investment shall be made only in 
securities in which the savings banks of the State of New York are authorized 
by law to invest. He shall report to the board annually in the month of January 
the condition and disposition of the fund, and the items or receipts and disburse- 
ments during the year ending on the 31st day of December preceding. The 
board of education in making the payrolls for October and March in each year 
for the superintendent, supervisors, teachers, registrars, and janitors, hereinbe- 
fore mentioned, shall deduct from the salary payable for each of such months 
to each of said persons who shall be members of said public school teachers re- 
tirement fund association, the sum of one-half of one per centum of his or her 
annual salary. The board of education shall thereupon issue a certificate to the 
treasurer stating the total sum so deducted and also the total amount of de- 
ductions from the salaries of any persons who are members of said association, 
for absence from duty during the preceding six months. Such amount shall be 
paid into the retirement fund and duly credited thereto by the comptroller. 



EDUCATION CODE 445 

§ 19 The board of education shall have power to retire from service any 
superintendent, principal, teacher, registrar or janitor who shall have served 
in such capacity or capacities for an aggregate period of twenty-five years for a 
female and thirty years for a male, and no person so retired shall become an 
annuitant under this act unless fifteen years of such service shall have been 
rendered in the public schools of Yonkers, and unless he or she shall have come 
under the provisions of this act as hereinbefore provided. Annuities paid in pur- 
suance of this act shall be one-half of the salary of the annuitant at the time 
of retirement from service, except that no annuity shall exceed eight hundred 
dollars annually, but if the moneys in the fund and the receipts of said fund shall 
be found insufficient to fully carry out the provisions hereinbefore set forth, the 
trustees shall then determine the pro rata amount which in their judgment each 
annuitant shall receive in any year, and such amount shall be deemed full pay- 
ment of the annuity for that year. If at any time a superintendent, supervisor, 
principal, teacher, registrar, or janitor, belonging to this association shall be 
refused reemployment by the board of education, or shall be discharged before 
he or she would become an annuitant under the provisions of this act, then such 
person shall be entitled to receive fromi the treasurer, without interest, a sum 
equal to the total deductions from his or her salary in pursuance of this act 
other than the forfeitures and deductions specified in subdivision {d) of section 
18 of this article. 

§ 20 For the purpose of providing money for the support and maintainance^ 
of the public schools in the city from the ist day of October, 1908, to the ist 
day of January. 1909, a funded debt of the city may be created and bonds of the 
citv not exceeding in the aggregate one hundred and twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars may be issued and sold as provided in sections 60 and 61 of chapter 473 of 
the Laws of 1906, or in such manner as may hereafter be provided by law. 



1 So in the original. 



NASSAU COUNTY^ 

Chapter 407, Laws of 19 10 

An act to establish a public school teachers retirement fund in Nassau county 

Section i The Nassau County Public School Teachers Retirement Fund Asso- 
ciation is hereby created. The county judge of said county shall appoint a board 
of trustees consisting of five members, one or more from each of the following 
and who shall be residents of Nassau county : a member of a board of education ; 
a school superintendent or principal ; a school commissioner ; other county official 
or resident, to serve one, two, three, four, five years respectively, after which 
one shall be appointed each year for a term of five years. A vacancy on such 
board shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by the county judge. 
This board of trustees shall have the general care and management of the 
teachers retirement fund created by this act. Such fund shall consist of the 
following moneys and the income therefrom: (a) All donations, legacies and 
gifts which shall be made to said fund, (b) Moneys that may be appropriated 
pursuant to section 2 of this act. (c) One per centum per annum of the respective 
salaries paid to superintendents of schools, supervisors, principals and teachers 
regularly employed in the public schools of Nassau county, and county school 
commissioners if licensed teachers, and who may elect to become members of this 
association within six months after the passage of this act. Superintendents, 
supervisors, principals and teachers not so employed in said county at the 
time this act takes effect, but who may be employed as such thereafter, shall 
become members of this association. And the provisions of this act shall become 
a part of and enter into any such contract of employment. 

§ 2 The board of supervisors of such county may provide by resolution an- 
nually for the payment into the said teachers retirement fund of a sum not ex- 
ceeding the amount annually contributed to such fund as provided in section i of 
this act. Said board of supervisors shall annually provide the board of trustees 
of the Public School Teachers Retirement Fund Association, as created by section 
I of this act, with such supplies for the necessary correspondence and for keeping 
the records of the association, and with necessary postage and printing, as said 
board may, by resolution approve. Whenever such provision is made the board 
of supervisors shall assess the amount to be paid into such fund or for such sup- 
plies, postage and printing, upon the several towns and cities in the county not 
maintaining a separate teachers pension system ratably according to the cor- 
rected valuations of real and personal property liable to taxation in such towns 

1 The teachers of this county have abandoned the local retirement act and have come under 
the general law relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section 1109-& of the 
Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of the 
teachers of this county it has been superseded by the general law. 

I446I 



EDUCATION CODE 



447 



and cities. The amount so assessed shall be a charge upon such towns and cities 
and shall be paid to the county treasurer to be held by him as a part of the said 
teachers retirement fund. (As amended by L. ipii, ch. 6g2.) 

§ 3 The treasurer of said county shall be the custodian of the funds and 
treasurer of the association. All orders made payable from said fund, including 
the cost of necessary supplies, postage and printing, shall be made upon a vote of 
a majority of the board of trustees, and said orders shall be signed by the presi- 
dent of said board and the secretary. The treasurer shall, upon direction of the 
board of trustees, invest for the benefit of the retirement fund, all moneys not 
necessary for the payment of annuities, or for supplies, postage and printing. 
Such investment shall be made only in securities in which the savings banks of 
the State of New York are authorized by law to invest. Such treasurer shall re- 
port to the board annually in the month of October the condition and disposition 
of the funds, and the items of receipts and disbursements during the year ending 
on the first of August preceding. Boards of education and school trustees, in 
making payrolls for November and March in each year, for superintendents, 
supervisors, principals and teachers hereinbefore mentioned, shall deduct from 
the salaries payable for each of the said months, to each of the persons named 
who shall be members of the association, the sum of one-half of one per centum 
of his or her salary. Such boards of education or school trustees shall thereupon 
issue a certificate to the treasurer, stating the total sum so deducted. Such 
amount so deducted shall be paid into the retirement fund and duly credited 
thereto by the treasurer. (As amended by L. ipii, ch. 6p2.) 

§ 4 A board of education or school trustee shall have power to retire from 
service any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who shall have 
served in the public schools, in said capacity or capacities, for a period of twenty- 
five years, but no person so retired shall become an annuitant under this act 
unless ten years of such service shall have been rendered in the public schools of 
Nassau county, and unless he or she shall have come under the provisions of this 
act as herein provided; or such superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher 
may request retirement if entitled to an annuity. Annuities paid in pursuance 
of this act shall be one-half of the salary of the annuitant at the time of retire- 
ment from service, except that no annuity shall exceed six hundred dollars 
annually; but if the moneys in the fund, and the receipts of said fund shall be 
found insufficient to fully carry out the provisions hereinbefore set forth, the 
board of trustees shall then determine the pro rata amount which in its judgment 
each annuitant shall receive in any year, and such amount shall be deemed full 
payment for the annuity for that year. If, at any time, a superintendent, super- 
visor, principal or teacher belonging to the association shall be refused re- 
employment by a board of education or school trustee, or shall be discharged 
before he or she would become an annuitant under the provisions of this act, then 
such person shall be entitled to receive from the treasurer, without interest, a 
sum equal to the total deductions from his or her salary in pursuance of this act. 
No person shall become an annuitant who has not contributed to the retirement 



448 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

fund an amount equal to at least twenty per centum of his or her annual annuity ; 
but any such person otherwise qualified may become an annuitant by making 
a cash payment to the fund before receiving an annuity, of such an amount as his 
previous contributions may have fallen short of the required twenty per centum. 
A proportionate annuity may be allowed in case of disability after fifteen years' 
teaching service, provided six years of such service have been in Nassau county. 
§ 5 The payment of annuities shall not begin until September i, 1912. 



SARATOGA COUNTY* 

Chapter 191, Laws of 1910 

An act to establish a public school teachers retirement fund in Saratoga county 
Section i The Saratoga County Public School Teachers Retirement Fund 
Association is hereby created. The county judge of said county shall appoint a 
board of trustees, consisting of five members, one or more from each of the 
following, and who shall be residents of Saratoga county : a member of a board 
of education ; a school superintendent or principal ; a school commissioner ; other 
county official or resident, to serve one, two, three, four, five years respectively, 
after which one shall be appointed each year for a term of five years. A vacancy 
on such board shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by the 
county judge. This board of trustees shall have the general care and management 
of the teachers retirement fund created by this act. Such fund shall consist of 
the following moneys and the income therefrom : (a) All donations, legacies 
and gifts which shall be made to said fund, (b) Moneys that may be appro- 
priated pursuant to section 2 of this act. (c) One per centum per annum of the 
respective salaries paid to superintendents of schools, supervisors, principals 
and teachers regularly employed in the public schools of Saratoga county, and 
county school commissioners if licensed teachers, and who may elect to become 
members of this association within six months after the passage of this act. 
Superintendents, supervisors, principals and teachers not so employed in said 
county at the time this act takes effect, but who may be employed as such there- 
after, shall become members of this association. And the provisions of this 
act shall become a part of and enter into any such contract of employment. 

§ 2 The board of supervisors of such county may provide by resolution 
annually for the payment into said teachers retirement fund of a sum not 
exceeding the amount annually contributed to such fund as provided in section 
I of this act. Whenever such provision is made the board of supervisors shall 
assess the amount to be paid into such fund upon the several towns and cities 
in the county not maintaining a separate teachers pension system ratably accord- 
ing to the corrected valuations of real and personal property liable to taxation 
in such towns and cities. The amount so assessed shall be a charge upon such 
towns and cities and shall be paid by the proper officer to the county treasurer to 
be held by him as a part of the said teachers retirement fund. 

§ 3 The treasurer of said county shall be the custodian of the funds and 
treasurer of the association. All orders made payable from said fund shall be 



1 The teachers of this county have abandoned the local retirement act and have come 
under the general law relating to the retirement of teachers pursuant to section 1109-& 
of the Education Law. The act has not been specifically repealed but by the action of 
the teachers of this countv it has been superseded by the general law. 

I449] 



450 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

made upon vote of a majority of the board of trustees, and said orders shall be 
signed by the president of said board and the treasurer. The treasurer shall, 
upon direction of the board of trustees, invest for the benefit of the retirement 
fund all moneys not necessary for the payment of annuities. Such investment 
shall be made only in securities in which the savings banks of the State of New 
York are authorized by law to invest. Such treasurer shall report to the board 
annually in the month of October the condition and disposition of the funds, and 
the items of receipts and disbursements during the year ending on the first of 
August preceding. Boards of education and school trustees, in making payrolls 
for November and March in each year, for superintendents, supervisors, principals 
and teachers hereinbefore mentioned, shall deduct from the salaries payable for 
each of the said months, to each of the persons named who shall be members of 
the association, the sum of one-half of one per centum of his or her salary. Such 
boards of education or school trustees shall thereupon issue a certificate to the 
treasurer, stating the total sum so deducted. Such amount so deducted shall be 
paid into the retirement fund and duly credited thereto by the treasurer. 

§ 4 A board of education or school trustee shall have power to retire from 
service any superintendent, supervisor, principal or teacher who shall have served 
in the public schools, in said capacity or capacities, for a period of twenty-five 
years, but no person so retired shall become an annuitant under this act unless 
ten years of such service shall have been rendered in the public schools of 
Saratoga county, and unless he or she shall have come under the provisions of 
this act as herein provided; or such superintendent, supervisor, principal or 
teacher may request retirement if entitled to an annuity. Annuities paid in 
pursuance of this act shall be one-half of the salary of the annuitant at the time 
of retirement from service, except that no annuity shall exceed six hundred 
dollars annually; but if the moneys in the fund, and the receipts of said fund 
shall be found insufficient to fully carry out the provisions hereinbefore set forth, 
the board of trustees shall then determine the pro rata amount which in its 
judgment each annuitant shall receive in any year, and such amount shall be 
deemed full payment for the annuity for that year. If, at any time, a super- 
intendent, supervisor, principal or teacher belonging to the association shall be 
refused employment by a board of education or school trustees, or shall be 
discharged before he or she would become an annuitant under the provisions 
of this act, then such person shall be entitled to receive from the treasurer, with- 
out interest, a sum equal to the total deductions from his or her salary in pur- 
suance of this act. No person shall become an annuitant who has not contributed 
to the retirement fund an amount equal to at least twenty per centum of his or her 
annual annuity ; but any such person otherwise qualified may become an annuitant 
by making cash payment to the fund before receiving an annuity of such an 
amount as his previous contributions may have fallen short of the required twenty 
per centum. A proportionate annuity may be allowed in case of disability after 
fifteen years' teaching service, provided six years of such service have been in 
Saratoga county. 

§ 5 The payment of annuities shall not begin until September i, 1912. 



WESTCHESTER COUNTY 

Chapter 431, Laws of 1909 
An act to establish a public school teachers retirement fund in Westchester 

county 

Section i The Westchester County Public School Teachers Retirement Fund 
Association is hereby created. The county judge of said county shall appoint a 
board of trustees, consisting of five members, one or more from each of the 
following, and who shall be residents of Westchester county : a member of a 
board of education ; a city or village school superintendent or principal ; a district 
superintendent ; other county official or resident to serve one, two, three, four, five 
years respectively, after which one shall be appointed each year for a term of 
five years. A vacancy on such board shall be filled for the remainder of the 
unexpired term by the county judge. There shall be a president and secretary of 
such board to be elected annually in November, from the members of the board, 
by majority vote of the members of the board. The members of the board, 
except the secretary, shall receive no salary for their services. The secretary 
shall receive from the funds of the association a compensation not to exceed 
two hundred dollars per annum and an allowance for postage, stationery and 
printing, not to exceed fifty dollars annually such as shall be audited and allowed 
by vote of the board. The board of trustees shall have the general care and 
management of the teachers retirement fund created by this act. Such fund 
shall consist of the following moneys and the income therefrom : All donations, 
legacies and gifts which shall be made to such fund. Moneys which may be 
appropriated pursuant to section 2 of this act. One per centum per annum of the 
respective salaries paid to city, village and district superintendents of schools, 
supervisors, principals and teachers, regularly employed in the public schools of 
Westchester county, and the provisions of this act shall become a part of and 
enter into any such contract of employment. (As amended by L. 19 14, ch. 356.) 

§ 2 The board of supervisors of such county may provide by resolution 
annually for the payment into said teachers retirement fund of a sum not exceed- 
ing the amount annually contributed to such fund as provided in subdivision " c " 
of section i of this act. Whenever such provision is made the board of supervisors 
shall assess the amount to be paid into such fund upon the several towns and cities 
in the county not maintaining a separate teachers pension system ratably accord- 
ing to the corrected valuations of real and personal property liable to taxation in 
such towns and cities. The amount so assessed shall be a charge upon such towns 
and cities and shall be paid by the proper officer to the county treasurer to be held 
by him as a part of the teachers retirement fund. {As amended by L. 1911, 
ch. 23.) 

§ 3 The treasurer of said county shall be the custodian of the fund and 

[451] 



452 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

treasurer of the association. All orders made payable from said fund shall be 
made upon vote of a majority of the board of trustees and said order shall be 
signed by the president and secretary of said board. The treasurer shall, upon 
direction of the board of trustees, invest for the benefit of the retirement fund, 
all moneys not necessary for the payment of annuities. Such investments shall 
be made only in securities in which the savings banks of the State of New 
York are authorized by law to invest. Such treasurer shall report to the board 
annually in the month of October the condition and disposition of the funds, 
and the items of receipt and disbursement during the year ending on the first 
of August preceding. Boards of education and school trustees in making payrolls 
for November and March in each year, for superintendent, supervisors, principals 
and teachers hereinbefore mentioned shall deduct from the salaries payable for 
each of the said months, to each of the persons named who shall be members of 
the association, the sum of one-half of one per centum of his or her annual 
salary. (As amended by L. igii, ch. 2j; L. 1914, ch. 356.) 

§ 4 A teacher who has taught in public schools for a period of twenty-five 
years, at least the last ten of which period shall have been taught in the public 
schools of Westchester county shall, upon his retirement from actual service as 
such teacher, be entitled to an annuity of a sum equal to one-half of the average 
salary paid to such teacher for the last five years, provided that no annuity shall 
exceed the sum of six hundred dollars, other than that of superintendent or 
principal, whose annuity shall not exceed eight hundred dollars, but if the moneys 
in the fund and the receipts of said fund shall be found insufficient to fully 
carry out the provisions hereinbefore set forth, the board of trustees shall then 
determine the pro rata amount which in its judgment each annuitant shall receive 
in any year, and such amount shall be deemed full payment for the annuity for 
that year. A teacher who has taught in public schools for a period of fifteen 
years, at least the last six of which were taught in the public schools of West- 
chester county, who is either physically or mentally incapable of teaching, may 
be retired, and shall upon his retirement be entitled to an annuity of as many 
twenty-fifths of the full annuity for twenty-five years as said teacher has taught 
years. Such retirement may be made upon the request of the teacher or upon 
the request of a board of education in a city or union free school district. A 
request for retirement shall be made in writing addressed to the secretary of the 
Westchester county teachers retirement board, accompanied by evidence showing 
that the teacher named therein is entitled to retirement, and that he has complied 
with the provisions of this article and the rules of the board relating to the 
payment of annuities. The board shall pass upon all requests for retirement, 
and shall determine whether such requests should be granted. All determinations 
of the board relative to such requests and the payment of annuities to teachers 
shall be subject to appeal to the commissioner of education. The provisions of 
article 34 of the Education Law relative to appeals shall apply to appeals from 
such determinations. No person shall become an annuitant who has not con- 
tributed to the retirement fund an amount equal to at least fifty per centum of 



EDUCATION CODE 



453 



his or her annuity; but any such person otherwise qualified may become an 
annuitant by making a cash payment to the fund before receiving an annuity, of 
such an amount as his previous contributions may have fallen short of the 
required fifty per centum. All teachers employed in the pubhc schools of West- 
chester county, except in those cities in w^hich provision is already made by statute 
for the retirement of public school teachers and the payment of annuities or 
pensions to such teachers, shall contribute to the teachers retirement fund of said 
county one per centum of the salaries to be paid to such teachers annually; and 
boards of education and trustees shall cause such one per centum to be deducted 
from the annual salaries of the teachers in their respective districts or cities. 
The district superintendent of each supervisory district shall include in his 
annual report to the Commissioner of Education a statement showing the amount 
to be deducted from the salaries of teachers in each school district under his 
supervision. The superintendent of schools of each city shall include in his 
annual report to the Commission^ of Education a statement showing the amount 
to be deducted from the salaries of teachers employed in such city. The district 
superintendent of each supervisory district and the superintendent of each city 
shall file with the treasurer of the county a statement showing the amount 
respectively reported by them to the Commissioner of Education as being the 
amount required to be deducted from the salaries of teachers in their respective 
supervisory districts and cities. Such statement to the county treasurer shall also 
respectively show the aggregate amount required to be so deducted from the 
salaries of teachers employed in each town in such supervisory district and from 
the salaries of teachers employed in each city coming under the provisions of this 
act. The district superintendent of each supervisory district shall file with the 
supervisor of each town within such supervisory district at the time he files his 
certificate of apportionment of public school moneys a statement showing the 
amount required to be deducted from the salaries of the teachers employed in 
each school district in such town. The superintendent of each city shall file 
with the chamberlain or treasurer of such city a duplicate of the certificate which 
he is required to file with the county treasurer. When the Commissioner of 
Education apportions the money appropriated by the Legislature for the support 
of common schools to the several counties of the State, he shall cause to be 
determined from the official reports of district and city superintendents the amount 
required to be deducted from the salaries of the teachers employed in West- 
chester county who come under the provision of this act. The Commissioner 
of Education shall include in the certificate which he files with the Comptroller, 
showing the amount of State funds apportioned for the support of common 
schools to Westchester county, a statement showing the amount required to 
be deducted from the salaries of teachers in said county. The Comptroller shall 
issue his warrant to the State Treasurer directing such treasurer to pay to the 
treasurer of Westchester county to the credit of the teachers retirement fund of 
said county from the appropriation for the support of common schools an amount 



1 So in the original. 



454 THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

equal to the aggregate amount to be deducted from the salaries of teachers in 
said county. The comptroller, in issuing his warrant to the state treasurer for 
the payment to Westchester county of that portion of the moneys appropriated 
for the support of common schools and payable on or before March i of each 
year, shall deduct therefrom an amount equal to the amount required to be 
deducted from the salaries of teachers as shown by the certificate of the Com- 
missioner of Education filed with the Comptroller. The county treasurer of 
Westchester county when paying to the supervisors of the towns of said county 
and to the chamberlain or treasurer of a city in said county the first half of the 
money apportioned annually for the support of common schools shall deduct from 
the amount apportioned an amount equal to the amount to be deducted from 
the salaries of the teachers in such town or city as shown by the certificate of the 
district and city superintendents filed with such treasurer. The supervisor of 
each town shall pay to the collector or treasurer of each school district in such 
town or to the teachers employed in such districts toward their salaries on the 
order of the trustees of such district the amount apportioned to such districts 
respectively less the amount required to be deducted from the salaries of the 
teachers in such districts as shown by the certificate of the district superin- 
tendent filed with such supervisors. The word " teachers " as employed in this 
act includes superintendents, supervisors, principals and teachers. (As amended 
by L. igii, ch. 2^; L. 191 4, ch. 356.) 

§ 5 The payment of annuities shall not begin until September i, 1911. 

§ 6 This act shall not apply to cities in said county where there is already in 
operation a plan for such pensions. 

r 



LRBAvi"Vc 



